An aftershock rattled western Washington state early yesterday after a powerful earthquake shook the Seattle area on Wednesday, causing at least $1 billion in damage but miraculously only one death.
A spokesman for the US Geological Survey said the aftershock was felt at 1.10 a.m. Pacific Time (9.10 Irish time) about 15 miles south-west of Tacoma, along the same fault line as Wednesday's major quake.
"It was felt across the Seattle region," said a USGS spokesman, adding that no injuries or serious damage were caused by the aftershock.
Wednesday's quake had a magnitude of 6.8, considered strong enough to cause extensive damage and injuries. However, there was only one report of a fatality, although scores of people were injured.
A 66-year-old woman from Burien, a Seattle suburb near the airport, died of a heart attack after the quake, marking the first confirmed fatality, local officials said.
Seattle officials said about 25 people were being treated in local hospitals for injuries and four were in serious condition after being crushed by debris. In addition, hospitals in Olympia were treating 35 people.
Seattle's mayor, Mr Paul Schell, said the city was open for business yesterday, adding that given the size of the quake it was a miracle that there were not more injuries or deaths.
"I'm very proud of our city and our citizens," said Mr Schell.
The mayor said a lot of buildings had been damaged, but it was too early to give an accurate estimate of exactly how much damage was caused.
"We're on the road to recovery. All of our infrastructure systems are up," he said.
The quake struck moments before Mr Schell was to give a news conference to explain how Mardi Gras celebrations on Tuesday night got out of control, injuring 70 people and prompting police to fire tear gas and rubber pellets to disperse crowds.
It was the region's first big quake since a 6.5 tremor rocked the area on April 29th, 1965. A 7.1-magnitude quake in 1949 killed eight people.