It was a shaky start to the work week for some in the La Conner area Monday morning.

For others, it was pretty much business as usual.

A 4.5 magnitude earthquake was recorded beneath Orcas Island, about 30 miles northwest of La Conner, just after 5 a.m., rattling windows and furniture as early risers prepared for the morning commute while their neighbors, and in some cases, others in the same household, were able to catch a bit more sleep.

“It woke me up,” said La Conner Schools Director of Teaching and Learning Beth Clothier, who resides off Snee-Oosh Road, “It had a low rumble like you’d expect from an earthquake. I could feel it.”

But her husband, La Conner Schools Technology Director Ryan Hiller, was unaffected.

“Ryan slept right through it,” Clothier said.

The Hannemans, who live on Third Street on the hill in La Conner, had a similar experience. Marna Hanneman, the Town’s mayor, felt the relatively light quake. She said her husband, Leroy Hanneman, wasn’t awakened and missed the few seconds of excitement.

Many locals took to social media to share their impressions of the local tremblor.

“This is so weird,” posted Shelter Bay resident Roberta Gregory. “I’m up by Muckleshoot (Circle), was already awake, and did not notice anything beyond a brief creaking that I thought was my house settling or branches on my metal roof.”

Earthquakes between 4.0 and 4.9 on the Richter Scale are often felt but usually cause minimal if any property damage. The U.S. Geological Society said that about 6,000 people in Northwest Washington reported they had felt the quake Monday morning. 

The earthquake did not prompt a tsunami warning. Ironically, it occurred just seven hours before the regular monthly tsunami warning drill siren sounded in Swinomish Village. As of early Monday afternoon, no earthquake-related damage had been reported.

“Interestingly, (I’ve) been talking to my neighbors up here on Muckleshoot Circle,” Gregory said told La Conner Community News, “and others were awake, and nobody noticed anything significant — while a friend in the immediate vicinity but maybe a hundred feet lower on Shelter Bay Drive said it was noticeable and very frightening.”

Gregory, who grew up in earthquake prone California, cites geology as a reason why perceptions of Monday’s event differed between adjacent neighborhoods. Some homes are built on rockier terrain than others, she noted.

“Thinking back,” Gregory said, “I think I heard a minor thump and rattle above me when it happened, but thought it was a dead tree branch on my metal roof or the house settling or something minor.”

Paulette Dole, whose home is on Sixth Street near the La Conner Schools campus, said the MyShake phone app alerted her to the quake. 

Retired La Conner Elementary teacher Jenny Mortenson, who resides northeast of town, said her earthquake alert system was less technological but equally effective.

“The dogs,” she said, “barked like crazy.”