M6.0 earthquake strikes offshore of Vancouver Island Thursday morning
An earthquake struck offshore of British Columbia at 8:54 a.m. local time Thursday morning with an estimated 6.0 magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey. There is some discrepancy, however, in the exact magnitude as Earthquakes Canada is reporting it at a magnitude 5.7.
The quake’s epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean west of Vancouver Island, 466 km northwest of Victoria, B.C., at a depth of 7.3 km.
Luckily, the tremors were not felt by residents and no tsunami is expected as a follow-up.
British Columbia is no stranger to earthquakes, being situated in an area of active tectonic plates. Most notably, the Cascadia Subduction Zone resides off the shores of the Pacific Northwest and extends upwards to Canada’s West Coast. Here, the oceanic Juan de Fuca plate exerts pressure against the continental North American plate. Eventually, as pressure builds up, the Juan de Fuca plate will slip under the North American plate, resulting in powerful tremors that can be felt at the surface.
Fortunately, the majority of earthquakes in and around Canada are small and often go unnoticed by residents.
Since Thursday’s earthquake was so far offshore, it was not felt inland despite its powerful magnitude.
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