Thursday July 11, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
It’s another wakeup call that earthquakes happen around Vancouver Island. A trifecta of quakes, all about 10 km below the surface, in a similar location, all within about 1 hour and nine minutes time.
At 9:17 am PDT this morning there was a 4.9 Magnitude quake 166 km SSW of Port Alice (far out in the ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island). It would not have been felt and no tsunami would be expected, says Natural Resources Canada in one of their standard bulletins.
That was preceded by two earthquakes on this same July 11 morning:
- at 8:35 am a 4.3 Magnitude quake (at 10 km depth) in a very similar location, at 194 km SW of Port Alice; not felt, no tsunami expected.
- at 8:08 am a 6.4 Magnitude quake (at 10 km depth) in a very similar location, at 208 km SW of Port Alice; not felt, no tsunami expected.
Update at 11 am:
OK, let’s add one more and make it four! There was another quake at 10 km depth, 197 km SW of Port Alice, at 10:34 am this morning. Also at 10 km depth. Magnitude 4.8.
Last week too:
And just one week ago on July 4 there was a quake at 6:18:06 am PDT — 4.3 Magnitude quake off the west coast of Vancouver Island, out in the middle of the ocean. The epicentre of that quake was similar — 190 km SW of Port Alice.
It was at an even more shallow depth of 5 km, but the earthquake was not felt and no tsunami would be expected, according to National Resources Canada (NRC).
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.
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 continue to remind people living in the coastal BC area to be prepared.
Also, no one knows where they will be when any earthquake happens. It helps to be prepared.
The last quake along the west coast Cascadia fault line was in 1700. Seismic specialists say the fault line is expected to cause a major seismic event at least every 300 years. We are now at the 324 year mark.
Be prepared:
People in BC’s coastal regions in particular are encouraged to have an emergency kit in the home, office and car.
Every member of the family (including pets) should have a grab-and-go bag (pack for ‘essential’ as well as ‘peace of mind’).
For the workplace, every employer and employee should have emergency preparedness in mind. Every workspace should have preparations in place.
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.
Preparation also includes having adequate insurance coverage.
BC provincial emergency support:
Today during a media session, BC’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma reiterated the importance of being prepared for any emergency.
BC has a website with checklists to help with preparedness, including an interactive planning tool.
People can also sign up to be on the Emergency Support Services (ESS) list, to already have that in place in the event of any future emergency.
===== RELATED:
- Another earthquake, another reminder (July 4, 2024)
- January 8: earthquake west of Port Hardy (January 8, 2024)
- RECENT EARTHQUAKES (NRC)
- NEWS SECTIONS: Emergency Preparedness & Safety
