A series of earthquakes struck off the west coast of Vancouver Island on Sunday, October 21, and the seismic activity continued Monday morning.
The first three quakes hit in short succession between 10:39 and 11:22 pm and ranged from 6.5 to 6.8 in magnitude. A fourth 4.9 magnitude quake struck later that night, and the shaking continued in the early hours of Monday, October 22, with two more quakes registering 4.9 and 4.3 magnitude respectively. The latest 5.2 magnitude shock occurred at 9:27 am.
The epicentre of all the quakes is an area roughly 200 to 250 kilometres west of Tofino at a depth of 10 kilometres.
“It’s a pretty common area to see earthquakes off Vancouver Island,” said qathet Regional District manager of emergency services Ryan Thoms. “The whole British Columbia coast sees a fair number of earthquakes but they’re often not felt.”
No damage has been reported, nor did the earthquakes trigger any tsunami warnings. The tremors were timely, coming just days after the BC Earthquake Alliance and Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Great British Columbia Shakeout on October 18, an event aiming to raise awareness of earthquake best practices and preparedness.
“Really for us it’s just recognizing anywhere you are on the BC coast you’re at risk of earthquakes,” said Thoms. “They’re unpredictable and unfortunately the science to predict them is not there yet to give us enough warning. So it’s a nice coincidence in a way that this happened right after the Great Shakeout last week.”
Thoms said the recent earthquakes serve as a reminder that individuals can do more to protect themselves in the event of a major shake.
“Earthquakes are not preventable, but to a large degree people can prevent being injured in an earthquake by taking proper steps,” added Thoms. “Don’t put off fixing those bookshelves and cabinets so they don’t topple over and injure you unnecessarily.”
