Friday February 14, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
It’s another wake up call that earthquakes happen around Vancouver Island.
Last night (February 13, 2025) at 9:59 pm (Pacific) there was a 3.8 Magnitude quake nearby to Victoria: 48.29 North, 123.28 West (17 km SSE of Victoria).
National Resources Canada (NRC) says the quake was “lightly felt in Victoria, Sidney and across southern Vancouver Island”.
Depth of the quake was 40 km.
“There are no reports of damage, and none would be expected,” says National Resources Canada.
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 continue to remind people living in the coastal BC area to be prepared.
People are encouraged to have an emergency kit in the home, office and car. 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 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.
===== RELATED:
- 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)