Small Earthquake in Verlot. None Dead.

Claud Cockburn (British journalist and the cousin of novelist Evelyn Waugh) and some colleagues had an unofficial competition to devise the most factually accurate yet most boring newspaper headline. Cockburn claimed the honours with "Small Earthquake in Chile. Not many Dead." However, this is almost certainly apocryphal, as no copy of The Times featuring this headline has ever been located.

Today the KING website brings us:

Small earthquake near Verlot
12:21 PM PDT on Monday, April 21, 2008
By KING5.com Staff
SEATTLE - A minor earthquake shook the area east of Verlot, in Snohomish County on Monday morning.

A report from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network says the quake at 11:40 a.m. had a magnitude 3.4 and occurred about 7 miles east of Verlot.

The depth was 0.0 miles. No injuries or damage were reported.

(The London Times had a chance to use a similar headline recently, and I wanted to emulate them).

In closing, again from Claud Cockburn: 'Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.'