Two 6.5 Quakes Rock Vancouver Island

The area between Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of British Columbia was the location of two quakes. The first, a 5.3, struck at 2:39 am Saturday morning and the second and much stronger 6.5 quake struck about 20 minutes later at 3:01 am.

To soon to know if there is any significant damage or injuries. The quake was about 75 KM (48 miles) off the southern tip of Kunghit Island, which is part of the Queen Charlotte Islands.

The quakes were about 155 KM (95 miles) north-northwest of Scott Islands, Just north of Vancouver Island. This location is about 575 miles NNW of Seattle Washington.

A 6.5 earthquake is not likely to produce any damaging tsunamis.

As I'm typing this, a second 6.5 quake has been reported in the same area. This new quake truck at 3:44 AM. I will update the maps later today, when more information becomes available.

Small Earthquake Rattles Southern Island

By Rebecca Whitney
The Pictorial
Jul 08 2006

VICTORIA, BC - A minor earthquake on Tuesday had some people in the Cowichan Valley rumbling in their boots.

Pacific Geoscience Centre reported the quake, with a magnitude of 3.7, was centred in the Strait of Juan de Fuca 20 kilometres off the coast of Victoria.

Earthquakes on the scale of Tuesday’s shake do not generally cause damage — and in this instance there was no damage reported — although some Victoria residence reported incidences of things falling from shelves.

“You don’t start to get damage until you get to a 5 or 5.5 and even then only in poorly built structures,” said Natural Resources Canada earthquake seismologist Taimi Mulder.

“A 3.7 would feel like a truck slamming into your house — a real short, sharp jerk,” said Mulder.

As you move further from the epicenter of the quake, the frequency of the waves lengthen and therefore the quake is felt as more of a swaying of the ground.

People as far up Island as Shawnigan Lake and Cobble Hill reported feeling the earth move under their feet, but only very slightly.

According to Mulder there were three reports written in from the south Cowichan region stating the quake felt like a “strong gust of wind hitting the house” and an audible “vibration” that didn’t cause any movement.

Earthquakes of this magnitude occur a couple of times a year in southwestern British Columbia, and Mulder says “every couple of months an earthquake will occur that is strong enough to be felt.”

Mulder asks Vancouver Island residents to report to Natural Resources Canada if they feel an earthquake because people’s experiences are valuable tools in measuring and analyzing earthquakes.

“People’s experiences provide us with really valuable local information, said Mulder.

If you get shaken by a quake log onto www.earthquakescanada.ca and click on Did You Feel it.

Scientist says earthquake shows bigger one could be on the way

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: January 17th, 2006 02:30 AM

An earthquake described as “a miniature version” of the Nisqually quake that rocked Seattle nearly five years ago was a wake-up call in more ways than one, a scientist said.
Many residents in and around the British Columbia provincial capital and the Gulf Islands and a few on the mainland were jolted awake by the 3.9 magnitude quake at 4:29 a.m. Sunday, said John Cassidy, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada.

About 200 people submitted reports on the agency’s Web site, most saying they felt the shaking for several seconds, Cassidy said.

There was no significant damage, just two or three reports of a few items being knocked from shelves, but the quake should be a reminder of the possibility of much bigger and more dangerous ones, he said.

“It’s been fairly quiet in terms of felt earthquakes for a couple of years here in Victoria, and that’s a bit unusual,” he said. “We generally have one or two small earthquakes a year that are felt on southern Vancouver Island.”

The quake was centered about 27 miles beneath Finlayson Arm near Bamberton, about 15 miles north of Victoria, and occurred within the Juan de Fuca plate, which is slipping beneath the North American plate of the Earth’s crust at the rate of about 11/2 to 2 inches a year, Cassidy said.

The Associated Press