Saturday February 22, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted 11:41 am | Last update 10:22 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The earthquake with an epicenter at Sechelt in the BC mainland’s Sunshine Coast area yesterday afternoon was another wake up call!
It was reminder that earthquakes happen in coastal areas of BC and that it will pay to be prepared for bigger quakes.
For over a day now, people have been sharing their experiences of what they felt. And this was only a minor quake, though it was close to the surface (just one km below the Earth’s surface).
The afternoon tremors were felt in the Greater Vancouver area and on south Vancouver Island, and as far away as Prince George in the north central area of BC and also in Washington State.
The geolocation of the epicentre of the quake was 48.68 North, 123.62 West.
Many people in the Victoria area reported hearing a loud bang.
Getting prepared:
Most people now know to drop, cover and hold on when they first feel the earth shake.
But there is likely still a wide range of emergency kit readiness in homes, places of work and community spaces.
Earthquake alert:
An Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) alert was issued on February 21, but was not heard or received by some people. Only people within the EEW area (red polygon in the map below) should have expected an EEW alert.
Some people outside that area may have received the alert if their device was able to receive a signal from a cell tower within this area.
Alert Ready and regional or municipal systems are all at various stages of readiness across BC.
An alert will give a second or two of advanced warning. In that respect, it’s good to have developed muscle-memory to drop, cover and hold on.
Building an automatic drop, cover and hold on response is part of the annual Great BC Shakeout drills that are held in October each year.
Time and magnitude:
The February 21 quake at 1:26 pm was first reported by Natural Resources Canada at 1:33 pm as having a preliminary magnitude of 5.1.
NRC then at 4:01 pm upgraded their report to show 5.4 Magnitude. though today the current report shows 4.7 Magnitude.
Comparing to last week:
Just last week, on February 13 at 9:59 pm Pacific, there was a 3.8 Magnitude quake near Victoria (17 km SSE of Victoria), with a geolocation of 48.29 North, 123.28 West.
National Resources Canada (NRC) says that quake was “lightly felt in Victoria, Sidney and across southern Vancouver Island”.
The depth of the February 13 quake was 40 km, much deeper than the shallow February 21 quake.
“There are no reports of damage, and none would be expected,” said National Resources Canada about the February 13 quake.
Quakes all the time:
Earthquakes of various sizes happen every day around the word, with many of them in BC though most of them small.
A major quake in the middle of winter would come with additional concerns, most notably having a continued source of heat in homes, schools and hospitals.
The Big One:
Obviously there is no idea when ‘the big one’ (earthquake of 9.0 M or greater) will happen, but emergency preparedness personnel at all levels of government, in non-profits and other agencies, continue to remind people living in the coastal BC area to be prepared.
People are encouraged to have an emergency kit at home, at workplaces, and in vehicles.
Every member of the family should have a grab-and-go bag (pack for ‘essential’ as well as ‘peace of mind’).
Water and food supplies will be essential after any major seismic event. Communities and schools have various levels of preparedness for water, food and safety gear.
The last 9.0 quake along the west coast Cascadia fault line was over 300 years ago in 1700. Seismic specialists say the fault line is expected to cause a major seismic event at least every 300 years. We are now nearing the 325-year mark.
===== RELATED:
- Winter evening earthquake is another reminder (February 14, 2025)
- Three summer morning earthquakes far-west of Port Alice (July 11, 2024)
- Summer morning earthquake is another reminder (July 4, 2024)
- Updates about the July 4, 2024 earthquake west of Port Alice are on the Natural Resources Canada website.
- Updates about the July 3, 2024 earthquake off Tofino are on the Natural Resources Canada website.
- January 8: earthquake west of Port Hardy (January 8, 2024)
- Thanksgiving Sunday evening: earthquake close to home (October 8, 2023)
- Sunday morning earthquake on Vancouver Island (March 12, 2023)
- RECENT EARTHQUAKES (NRC)