PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A 4.0 magnitude earthquake hit Wednesday evening with an epicenter near Scotts Mills in Marion County, according to USGS.
The earthquake happened just after 5:24 p.m. and was felt across Oregon and Southwest Washington. Seismic activity was reported in 49 areas.
Scott Burns, a geologist with Portland State University, said this quake in Scotts Mills is much less severe than than the one that hit the same area in 1993.
“We called that on the Spring Break Quake,” Burns told KOIN 6 News. “It was 5.6, much bigger than this one. That was the one that brought attention to everyone in Oregon that this was earthquake country. Before that time, we never really thought earthquakes were a big problem.”
That earthquake was felt as far north as Seattle, south to Roseburg, east to Bend and all the way west to Lincoln City. It caused millions of dollars in damage to Molalla High School and the State Capitol building in Salem. That damage spurred Oregon to make buildings earthquake proof and enact new building codes.
Burns said the quake in Scotts Mills is on an active fault.
“A 3.9 quake (since re-classified as a 4.0) is a great quake because it is not going to cause much damage. A lot of people are going to feel it and it is a reminder we live in earthquake country.”
Burns said there is a great deal of difference between a 4.0 and a 5.6 quake.
“It’s a logarithmic scale, so it is actually 30 times more powerful — a 4.9 is 30 times greater (than a 3.9) quake. If you go up to 5.9, that is 900 times greater.”
Geologists are worried about the Big One along the entire West Coast, from British Columbia through California, he said. These are faults in the North American plates that will still cause damage.
“The one in 1993 caused $26 million worth of damage,” he told KOIN 6 News. “This one probably did not cause much.”
No major or even minor damage has been reported, but it certainly got people talking.
“I’m like earthquake!” Jaira Hill told KOIN 6 News. “It was rumbling and then kind of sounded a bit like an explosion and that’s when the house just jumped! It was up and down.”
Hill said not even the decorations on her Christmas tree were swaying after the quake.
“Well I was washing dishes actually and next thing I know, things just start shaking,” Natalia Erofeef said. “I started screaming, we all got scared. You just felt moving, you felt nauseous.”
In Molalla, Trisha Boone felt the trembling too.
“I was standing right here, my husband was standing right here and literally we heard a big huge boom and then everything started shaking, the chandelier, this glass stuff over here,” Boone said.
As the swaying subsided, folks can look at it with a sense of humor.
“Yes, we will rebuild!” Boone joked.
A 4.7 magnitude earthquake hit on Nov. 24 off the coast of Lakeport.
A 3.4 magnitude earthquake hit in Clatsop County on Oct. 16.