Earth movement - right at the Cascadian Subduction Zone. We get a big one (Mag 9) there every 250 to 500 years.
Last one was January 26, 1700 or 321 years, 3 months, 3 days ago. A bit overdue...
(the link I referenced above is fascinating reading - well written and a great piece of detective work)
Been seeing a lot of quakes in the last two days - this is either good in that built-up stresses are being relieved or this is bad in that these are the precursor to "The Big One". These are all in the 4 to 5 Magnitude range and all about 10 km deep - the depth is critical and 10 km is not good from a damage perspective. Deep enough to couple to the surrounding crust and cause damage. Not so deep that the force is dissipated.
I am lucky (and would not have purchased the house otherwise) in that the FEMA maps show minimal tsunami damage. This part of Camano Island is well shielded behind Whidbey Island. There will be about a five foot surge but that is the worst-case scenario. I love the Oregon Coast - Seaside and Astoria (Cannon Beach has become too gentrified for me). They are toast if when this happens.
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