Seattle may be closer to Canada after morning earthquake

The 4.6 magnitude earthquake that jolted the Puget Sound region on Friday left behind a lot of intriguing tidbits.

For one, Seattle could be getting closer to Canada, although how close, we don't yet know.

And another: Don’t blame the Cascadia subduction zone.

Bill Steele, seismology lab coordinator with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington, said this quake was related to the North American crust, not the Cascadia subduction zone – which is the source of nightmarish scenarios for a mega earthquake in the Northwest.

Friday’s quake is “more related to California kind of being dragged north and pressing us up against the buttress of British Columbia,” Steele told KUOW's Angela King. “It's kind of a compressive earthquake that allows shortening between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C."

There isn't a connection between this earthquake and the ones that rocked California earlier this month, Steele said.

But he said that even if this quake is not a precursor of the Big One, it serves as a reminder:

“Take a look at your emergency supplies: Do you have water for a couple of weeks? Do you have a deep pantry so that if a large earthquake does strike you can support yourself and your family for the week or two it's going to take before help arrives?”

Listen to the audio interview for more details.