What a ‘cloud’ of small earthquakes means for the PNW, and how to prepare for bigger ones

The Pacific Northwest has experienced at least four small earthquakes over the past two weeks. One recorded near Sequim on the afternoon ow Wednesday, March 5, registered at 3.9 magnitude. Also, many people in the San Juan Islands and British Columbia experienced a rude awakening on Monday when a magnitude 4.5 earthquake rumbled through the area at around 5 a.m., east of Orcas Island. It was the biggest quake in our region since 2019. There were no reports of damage.

Pacific Northwest Seismic Network director Harold Tobin joined KUOW’s Kim Malcolm to discuss the recent shakeups, and how to prepare for more damaging events.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: What should people know about the nature of that Monday quake? There were several thousand people who reported feeling it.

Harold Tobin: The Monday quake was a relatively shallow earthquake. It was directly under the southeast corner of Orcas Island. It was what we call one of our crustal earthquakes. It happened inside the North American plate, and it was, as you said, the largest since 2019. Beyond that, it’s sort of part of the cloud of earthquakes that we have from time to time in our region. And except for being a little bit bigger and felt by more people, it wasn't particularly strongly unusual.

Does it mean anything that we've had that cluster of earthquakes that happened in rapid succession?

Yes, people have certainly noticed that there are more felt earthquakes, and with four in about a two-week span in the populated region, everybody's sort of sitting up and taking notice. But it doesn't really mean something different than usual is going on. I mean, yes, it's been an active, a little bit noisier week from the earthquake point of view than a typical one, but they wax and wane over time. And if you look at our record of earthquakes over decades, you see periods like this, and you see quieter periods, and it really fits into that range of what I would think of as the normal seismic activity for the area.

We hear on a regular basis that we should be prepared with supplies and planning in the event of a major earthquake. But a lot of us, including me, we procrastinate. So, what do you tell people to make sure to do?

It is hard to make sure that you're actually keeping up with that. And sometimes it sounds daunting. Really, it's the basics. You probably have a lot of things in your house. You may have a cupboard or a pantry with a lot of canned goods in it. So, you know that those things are there. You would love to have some of those in a more accessible spot, in case there's some damage to the building or to the apartment that you're in.

What I tell people is, look at what you've already got. Think about your camping gear. Some of that might be useful. And at least know where it is and know where those flashlights are and the batteries that go with them at any time. That's not very hard to do. And if you're just aware, then that's a good starting point.

Another one, with your family, make a plan. In case you're in different places at the time of an earthquake and the cell phone systems are down, where will you just make sure to meet up? Agree on a plan if people are at school, work, home, etc.

And for those of us who, now that we're hearing you are thinking, yes, we want to get on to this and set up our emergency kit. Where would you send us? What's your best recommendation?

There's really great information on the Washington Emergency Management Department's website. Just look for Two Weeks Ready, and you'll find all the information you need.

The Trump administration has been cutting or not delivering funding to many agencies. Has that affected seismic monitoring yet?

So, it actually is beginning to affect seismic monitoring, and the reason for that is that we in the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network are partnered really closely with the U.S. Geological Survey. In fact, we work on field work together to keep all 700 seismic stations we operate in Washington and Oregon going all the time. The USGS, like a lot of the government, is on a spending freeze where they can't go for overnight travel. They can't use their government credit cards to actually buy the spare parts. That's the way a lot of purchasing happens. Of course, everything's working now, it's only been a few days, but if that continues for a long time, we'll see a degradation of our network, and we're concerned about that.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.