Magnitude 4.2 earthquake hits Oregon, no damage reported
Jul 4, 2015, 5:24 PM
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) — Some Oregonians woke on the Fourth of July to a significant jolt when a magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck near Springfield and Eugene.
Hundreds of people reported to the U.S. Geological Survey that they felt the quake, which struck at 8:42 a.m. Saturday.
Usually, there isn’t any damage from quakes lower than magnitude 5.5, USGS geophysicist Paul Caruso said.
City of Springfield officials said they haven’t received any reports of damage from residents or to infrastructure.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office also said it had conducted well-checks on local businesses and no major damages or injuries were reported.
Sheriff’s officials said residents reported some mild impacts, including shaking furniture, an extremely loud explosion-type sound, items falling off walls and shelves, and woodpiles shifting.
The Oregon Department of Transportation, which conducted visual inspections of bridges in the Eugene-Springfield area, said there was no damage to any roadways or bridges.
The US Army Corps of Engineers said it too is doing routine inspections on the 13 Willamette Valley dams; no immediate damage has been reported.
The quake was centered about 12 miles east of Eugene. It was about 4 miles deep, which Caruso of the USGS says is considered shallow.
Utah was also hit by an earthquake Saturday morning, the USGS said. About 10 a.m. Utah time, a magnitude 4.0 quake hit about 1 mile south of Panguitch, Utah. The town is about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City.
The Panguitch Fire Department and the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office report receiving calls about the quake from the public but nothing about damages or injuries, The Deseret News reported (http://bit.ly/1G0zVCh). The quake lasted between three and four seconds, Fire Chief Dave Dodds told the newspaper.
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