VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — Nine earthquakes rattling off the coast of Vancouver Island in three days are no reason to panic, but a seismologist says they should serve as a reminder to prepare.
“They’re just a great reminder of an active earthquake zone and the importance of being prepared–having an earthquake emergency kit, having a plan, and knowing what to do when the shaking starts,” says John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada.
We've had questions from a number of listeners about what relevance the earthquake swarm off Vancouver Island has to The Big One we're all waiting for. Should we be concerned? A seismologist assures us it's a different fault — but a good reminder to get ready. More @NEWS1130
— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) December 26, 2019
The ‘Big One’ many in B.C. are bracing for will be due to a megathrust earthquake at the Cascadia subduction fault.
“These recent earthquakes are not anywhere near that fault. They’re not on that fault, they’re not close to it. They’re not big enough to make any changes to that fault so we wouldn’t expect any link between these ongoing earthquakes and the Cascadia subduction type of earthquake,” he explains. “These earthquakes aren’t really telling us about when future, larger earthquakes might occur.”
The nine quakes earlier this week happened between 150 and 200 kilometres off the coast.
“It is an active area. It’s a region where these tectonic plates are in motion. These offshore earthquakes have been well offshore and so they’re felt by a few people but generally far enough away that there’s no damage, no impacts. But certainly, they’re a very good reminder of these plates in motion off of our coast.”
During the past 30 years, there have been 133 earthquakes of M>5 in the offshore #VancouverIsland region. 19 of those were M>6, and the largest was M6.8. None of these earthquakes caused damage as they were well offshore. The most recent events are highlighted in red and orange. pic.twitter.com/GsbQ205hqu
— John Cassidy (@earthquakeguy) December 25, 2019
Cassidy says there’s no reason to be alarmed, although the activity is out of the ordinary.
“It’s quite a concentration of earthquakes in a short time window. It’s not unexpected in this area of very high seismicity and movement of tectonic plates. It’s not a complete surprise, but it is unusual.”
He points to a number of resources readily available for people who have been putting off getting prepared including ShakeOut BC and Prepared BC.
“Being prepared is really important and can make a huge difference.”
