An aftershock hit western Washington state early today. It comes after a powerful earthquake shook the Seattle area yesterday causing at least $1 billion in damage and one death.
A US Geological Survey spokesman said the aftershock was felt at 1.10 a.m. Pacific Time (9.10 a.m. Irish time) about 15 miles southwest of Tacoma, along the same fault line as Wednesday's major quake.
"It was felt across the Seattle region," said a USGS spokesman, adding there were no injuries or serious damage caused by the aftershock.
Wednesday's quake had a magnitude of 6.8 - considered strong enough to cause extensive damage and injuries. 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 after the tremor, local officials said.
Seattle officials said about 25 people were being treated in local hospitals for injuries and that four were in serious condition after being crushed by debris. In addition, hospitals in Olympia were treating 35 people.
It was the region's first big quake since a 6.5 tremor rocked the area on April 29, 1965. A 7.1-magnitude quake in 1949 killed eight people.