Ten earthquakes — including one with a magnitude of 5.8 — were recorded off the coast of Oregon on Tuesday, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
But not to worry.
The earthquakes occurred more than six miles below the surface of the water, none of them were felt on land and no tsunamis were expected, according to the National Weather Service and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
No injuries or damage was reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Perhaps bombarded with questions about potential danger, the National Weather Service in Seattle said on Twitter, “For the 7th time in the last 16 hours … tsunami not expected with earthquake off the southern Oregon Coast.”
The activity was recorded about 200 to 250 miles west of Newport in an area called the Blanco Fracture Zone.
“Things are getting exciting out there on the Blanco Transform Fault today. 10 earthquakes today of magnitude 3.5 up to 5.8,” said Harold Tobin, director of the network and a professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington.
The quakes, though, were too far away to be felt on land, he added.
“This is perhaps the most seismically active fault anywhere near North America,” Tobin said, “and this is not cause for alarm.”
Tobin also posted an animated video from the National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center showing earthquake activity along the fault line over 40 years.
The BFZ is very active and has had 49 earthquakes above magnitude 4.5 in the last five years. The fault line is similar to the San Andreas Fault, but it is underwater and less dangerous to humans, according to a 2019 Scientific American article.
The fault line, which is the boundary between the Juan de Fuca and Pacific plates, runs around 124 miles west of the Cascadia subduction zone, where the Juan de Fuca dives under the North American plate.
The Pacific Northwest is prone to earthquakes with some saying that the region is due for a “big one” soon.
While there is disagreement over that prediction, especially over the meaning of the word “soon,” this series of quakes is no harbinger of disaster, the seismic network said.
“In the past 20 years alone, there have been 91 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or larger on the Blanco. These happen a lot!” Tobin says.
