KUOW72%
‘Like a large truck rolling by.’ 3.8 magnitude quake near Oak Harbor felt by thousands 76%
By Cornelius Hocker43%
7/3/2026, 12:08:43 AM
Topics: Earthquakes, Public Safety
BS Summary: This article contains 24 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Anecdotal, and Optimism Bias, with Indoctrination as the most egregious example at 46.8% saturation with 312 hits. Analysis detected 1,269 faulty-reasoning hits from 666 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 68.1% and a BS Rank of 76% (5,089 of 21,198 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 76.00% of the article peer group.
An Oak Harbor city official said Wednesday’s late night 3.8 magnitude earthquake is a good reminder to review emergency plans and make sure you have basic preparedness supplies.
“There’s so much information out there [about earthquakes] our public needs to know,” said Magi Aguilar, communications officer with the City of Oak Harbor.
“There are a lot of misconceptions out there, so it’s important to get out the right information.”
According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake struck 1.24 miles east of Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, just after 11:30 p.m.
Thousands of people felt it in the immediate region.
“Felt like a large truck was rolling by right outside my window,” Connie Johnson said in a comment on the Oak Harbor Facebook page.
“My wife & I felt it immediately as we prepared for bed.
The waters on our bedside table were sloshing around but it was over quickly,” said Michael Hoyt, who also commented on the post.
Aguilar said, as of Thursday afternoon, there were no reports of injuries or damage.
But in an area where “The Big One” could strike with no warning, and smaller ones happen more routinely, knowing three simple commands can protect you: drop, cover, hold on.
The following information was shared by Oak Harbor from Island County and shakeout.org.
How to Protect Yourself During an Earthquake:
DROP where you are, onto your hands and knees.
This position protects you from being knocked down and allows you to stay low and crawl to shelter if nearby.
COVER your head and neck with one arm and hand.
A small jolt might turn out to be the start of a large earthquake, so always protect yourself immediately.
If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath it for shelter.
If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall (away from windows).
Stay on your knees; bend over to protect vital organs.
HOLD ON until the shaking stops.
Under shelter: Hold on to it with one hand.
Be ready to move with your shelter if it shifts.
No shelter: Hold on to your head and neck with both arms and hands.
If you use a cane: DROP, COVER, and HOLD ON or sit on a chair, bed, etc. and cover your head and neck with both hands.
Keep your cane near you so it can be used when the shaking stops.
If you use a walker or wheelchair: LOCK your wheels (if applicable).
If using a walker carefully get as low as possible.
Bend over and COVER your head/neck with your arms, a book, or a pillow.
Then HOLD ON until the shaking stops.
What NOT to do:
DO NOT get in a doorway.
An early earthquake photo is a collapsed adobe home with the door frame as the only standing part.
From this came our belief that a doorway is the safest place to be during an earthquake.
In modern houses and buildings, doorways are no safer, and they do not protect you from flying or falling objects.
Get under a table instead.
DO NOT run outside.
Trying to run in an earthquake is dangerous, as the ground is moving and you can easily fall or be injured by debris or glass.
Running outside is especially dangerous, as glass, bricks, or other building components may be falling.
You are much safer to stay inside and under a table.
DO NOT believe the so-called "triangle of life."
In recent years, an e-mail has circulated, which recommends that people should crouch next to bulky objects rather than sheltering under them, based on the idea that falling debris would create a protective triangular void where people could be safe.
This earthquake survival theory has been largely discredited.
You can help yourself prepare for the next earthquake by participating in The Great Shakeout, the world's largest earthquake drill, on Oct 15.
To learn more, go to https://www.shakeout.org/.
Speakers
5speakers23%attributed speech516writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageConnie Johnson
24 attributed words16% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.