A video has revealed the violent tremors caused by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked the west coast on Wednesday.
The footage, taken in the bathroom of an Oregon resident, shows what appears to be a glass shower door shaking as a loud banging sound is heard, presumably the door hitting the frame.
After about 20 seconds, both the shaking and banging seem to disappear. “Oh, I’d be afraid the glass would break. I’m glad that’s not the case,” one viewer posted on X.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected the massive quake at 1.15pm local time, with the epicenter about 270 kilometers west of Bandon and 400 kilometers west-southwest of Salem.
The earthquake caused no injuries or damage, and officials stated that there was no tsunami threat associated with this earthquake.
But more than 75 people reported being shaken by the quake, which was originally detected as a magnitude 6.1 but has since been downgraded to a 6.0.
According to the USGS Did You Feel It database, the shaking was felt beyond the borders of Oregon, as far north as Utah and southern California.
The quake occurred in the Blanco Fracture Zone (BFZ), which experts say is more active than California’s San Andreas Fault.
Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, shared on Facebook: “This is a very typical journal[nitude] 6 earthquake on the Blanco Transform fault, very far off the Oregon coast.”
“We see at least one such earthquake almost every year,” he added.
The video from Oregon, posted to the Meteor News YouTube channel (@meteornews) and X account (@FishNewsChannel), shows the impact of the earthquake as states along the West Coast were hit.
More than 75 people reported shaking from the quake, which was originally detected as a magnitude 6.1 but has since been downgraded to a 6.0.
According to the USGS Did You Feel It database, the shaking was felt beyond the borders of Oregon, as far north as Utah and southern California.
And the shaking may not be over yet.
“Moderate to mild aftershocks are likely over the next few days. The event did not lead to tsunami advisories’ Crisis 24 reported.
The Blank Fracture Zone (BFZ) – where this earthquake originated – is a transform plate boundary, where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally.
The BFZ boundary connects the Juan de Fuca ridge to the Gorda uplift spreading centers.
This active fault zone begins more than 90 miles off the coast of Cape Blanco and extends northwest to about 300 miles off Newport.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected the massive quake at 1.15pm local time, with the epicenter about 270 kilometers west of Bandon and 400 kilometers west-southwest of Salem.
It is located about 275 miles west of Oregon and about 200 miles further west of its infamous neighbor, the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
Stretching from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Northern California, the Cascadia is capable of producing “The Big One”: a hypothetical, but unavoidable, high-magnitude earthquake that could decimate the West Coast.
Such an earthquake could trigger tsunamis that reach 100 feet or more in height, kill more than 10,000 people and cause more than $80 billion in damage in Oregon and Washington alone.
But experts believe that the BFZ is more active than the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
The BFZ experienced a swarm of at least nine earthquakes in 2022, with the strongest reaching a magnitude of 5.6.
The BFZ boundary connects the Juan de Fuca ridge to the Gorda uplift spreading centers. Experts consider it more active than the Cascadia Subduction Zone
And the year before there were at least 66 hits, two of which had a magnitude of 5.8.
In 2018, the BFZ triggered a magnitude 6.2 earthquake off the coast of south-central Oregon, more than 170 miles west of Coos Bay.
And about two hours later an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 3.5.
The fault has caused more than 1,500 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater since the 1970s, according to Oregon State University.
Washington State Emergency Management officials posted on social media that it could be scary to see a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occur near the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
But there’s no reason to believe this earthquake could cause The Big One.
Wednesday’s seismic activity came less than 24 hours after Oregon tested its emergency response to a major earthquake.
Cities including Portland conducted Iron-OR 24, a two-day simulation exercise.
Amanda Westervelt, Operations Coordinator with the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, said, “We’re in a time frame where we could experience another one at any moment, so we’re preparing.”