5.4 magnitude earthquake hits off coast of Vancouver Island

VANCOUVER – A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island on Friday morning, two weeks after an earthquake hit in almost the same location.

Earthquakes Canada says Friday’s quake hit at 2:15 a.m. off the west coast of the island, on the boundary of the Juan de Fuca plate system and the North America Plate, on the spreading centre. There are no reports of any damage or injuries, but residents of Campbell River, Vancouver and New Westminster may have felt some light shaking.

On Saturday, Dec. 20, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake struck the same region. There was no damage or tsunami from that quake.

Earthquakes Canada has recorded five earthquakes off B.C.’s coast during the weekend of Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, 2014.

“We’ve had a number of earthquakes up there,” said Taimi Mulder, from the Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada. “In that area there often, once or twice a year there could be a magnitude 5 there.”

She said this is not unusual activity for that area and there has been a lot of small plate shifting since the Haida Gwaii earthquake in October, 2012. “In the last two, three years it has been a little more active,” said Mulder.

“Five is on the order where you would start to see damage if it was to happen on land.”