Quake shakes the state

By Soren Velice

Just before 11 a.m. Wednesday, Blaine got shaken - not stirred - by an earhtquake centered in the south Puget Sound area.

Early reports rated the shaker at 6.2 on the richter scale, but the information was updated throughout the day. Experts settled on 6.8.

The quake occured at 10:54 a.m. about 11 miles northeast of Olympia 33 miles underground, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismograph
Network.

Blaine police said for the most part, the quake had little imp act in the area. “There were no reports of damage,” police captain Mike Haslip said. “The only problem reported was with telephone service due to the sudden call volume.”

Western Washington University geology professor Bernie Housen said it’s been more than 50 years since Washington has seen a similar earthquake. “Around here, the last quake of this magnitude was in 1949,” he said. “It was very similar - it was a 7.1 centered about 30 miles underground in Lacey.” Hausen said the university plans to survey area residents about the quake and how intensely they felt it.

In Seattle, flights out of Sea-Tac airport were delayed; some reports say the shaker was felt as far away as San Fransisco.

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