More than 550 people report feeling 3.4 quake west of Seattle

BREMERTON, Wash. — A magnitude 3.4 quake rattled the Seattle area early Wednesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the small earthquake occurred at about 1:14 a.m. It was centered about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) east of Bremerton and about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Seattle.

The USGS says more than 550 people reported feeling the quake as of Wednesday morning. Aside from Bremerton, viewers reported feeling it on Bainbridge Island, Harstene Island, the Hood Canal area, Kingston, Poulsbo, Silverdale Suquamish and Joyce.

For a report on KIRO 7 News at 5 p.m., Siemny Kim is talking to experts at Pacific Northwest Seismic Network about how this latest quake is related to a swarm happening over the past week. Watch on-air or here. 

If you felt it, file a report here.

Several small quakes preceded Wednesday’s event.PNSN tweeted on May 3 and May 4 about a series of small quakes near Bremerton – ranging from magnitude 2.6 to 3.3.

Bremerton earthquake ‘promising' test for new warning system

Just before the 3.3 magnitude earthquake rattled Bremerton last week , seismologists were celebrating.

John Vidale, state seismologist, University of Washington professor, and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, noted that his earthquake early warning app told him to expect to feel (intensity II) shaking.

The warning system — known as ShakeAlert — has warned him of plenty of quakes, but most are either too weak or too far away for Vidale to actually experience firsthand.

It’s an important step forward for a system that could save thousands of lives when the “big one” finally hits.

About the ‘big one’

New research, published in the journal Marine Geology in 2016, about the Cascadia Subduction Zone has prompted earthquake experts to re-think the potential timeline and shows that major earthquakes happen more frequently than first thought.

Since the 80s, researchers have said major earthquakes occur in our part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone every 500 to 530 years.

But after studying more than 16 times the number of core samples used in previous studies, seismologists now believe devastating quakes occur about every 430 years.

The last devastating earthquake in the area was 315 years ago.

The greater Seattle-area’s last sizeable earthquake, the Nisqually Quake in 2001, may still be fresh in some people's minds, but the kind of quake researchers are referring to is massive – in the magnitude 9.0 range.

The bottom line is that experts now say the chance of a major earthquake in the next 50 years has increased from 8 to 14 percent to 10 to 17 percent.

Cox Media Group