THE NORTHWEST: Quit Your Ticklin’

An earthquake rocked the Washington coast and parts of British Columbia and Oregon. Goldfish were slopped out of outdoor ponds in Seattle. Sulphuric acid spilled over the edge of a smelter vat in Tacoma, made workmen run like rabbits,, The quake lasted for 45 minutes, but was only noticeable for two. Nobody was killed. Seismologists explained that the quake had come from the ocean floor, 200 miles west. But almanac readers knew better. That was the day a B-29 dropped a practice explosive bomb at Bikini Atoll. The earth had twitched slightly, like a horse plagued by a fly.