CRISISBOOM

By Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian

Fault line, won’t you be my Valentine?

The second largest earthquake since Mount St. Helens erupted — a magnitude 4.3 shaker — rocked a fault line six miles north of the volcano Monday morning. People felt it as far away as Astoria, Lake Oswego, Hood River and even Bremerton, Wash., near Seattle.

The last one, as it happens, was 30 years ago also on Valentine’s Day, a magnitude 5.5 temblor.

That 1981 earthquake appeared to be the result of the earth’s crust readjusting after magma oozed up through the fault and blew the mountain’s Read more…