2.0 Earthquake Mildly Vibrates Cedar Mill

CEDAR MILL, OR — Seismologists with the United States Geological Survey on Wednesday confirmed the unincorporated community of Cedar Mill in Washington County experienced an earthquake around 4 a.m. June 14.

Registering as a 2.o magnitude earthquake, it occurred roughly 21 kilometers deep (or 13 miles). The last earthquake registered by the USGS in Beaverton happened on July 17, 2016, when a 3.0 magnitude quake struck roughly 26 kilometers underground.

No damage was reported as a result of Wednesday's quake.

First reported at a magnitude of 2.8 by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network shortly after 4 a.m., USGS seismologists around 11 a.m. clarified the location (about 9 miles west of Portland) and actual strength.

Earthquakes in Beaverton have historical precedence, though few have breached anything more than a 3.0 over the past 20 years. According to a 2011 assessment in the Beaverton Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, the last big earthquake widely felt in Beaverton was the Feb. 28, 2001, Nisqually Earthquake near Olympia, Wash., which registered officially as a 6.8 magnitude quake.

Despite Wednesday's quake being so small, it served as a reminder for many to be prepared in the event of a much larger Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) quake, which geologists say isn't an 'if' so much as a 'when'.

In the 2011 hazard report, officials noted Oregon "ranks third in the nation for future earthquake damage estimates," with some predicting the CSZ quake causing upward of $12 billion in damages, destroying 30,000 buildings, and killing an estimated 8,000 people — and that's at a predicted magnitude of 8.5. Some geologists say the CSZ quake could well exceed 9.0.

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