PLANETARY TREMORS: Strong Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake Recorded Off Vancouver Island - USGS!

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March 5, 2016 - CANADA - A magnitude 4.7 earthquake was detected off the west coast of Vancouver Island this morning.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the tremor hit at 10:38 a.m. PST and had an epicentre 176 kilometres southwest of Port Hardy - near the border of the Explorer and Juan de Fuca plates. It had a depth of 20 kilometres.

No damage can be expected given the location, and a tsunamis warning was not declared.

Thousands of small earthquakes hit B.C. every year, but only a small fraction have a magnitude of 4.0 or greater. - Vancity Buzz.

PLANETARY TREMORS: Major Global Seismic Uptick - Powerful 6.7 Magnitude Earthquake Strike South Of Port Hardy, Canada! [MAPS]

April 24, 2014 - CANADA - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island, but no major damage has been reported.

USGS earthquake location map.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was about 94 kilometres south of Port Hardy in the ocean and was at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Emergency Management B.C. says there is no tsunami warning for the West Coast, including B.C.

People in Port Hardy reported the ground shook for more than 35 seconds, and groceries fell off the shelves of the local Overwaitea store, said Global News.

Pamela Shea, who was working at the Airport Inn in Port Hardy, said feeling the rolling motion due to the quake was "pretty scary."

"Oh goodness, yes. Oh goodness, yes," she repeated when asked if she felt the quake. "My chair was rolling back and forth, the bottles were rattling."

"It was really kind of scary," Shelley Siemens, who lives in Port Hardy, told The Vancouver Sun. "I was in my bathroom and I have glass sliding doors — I thought they were going to come right out," said Siemens.

USGS earthquake shakemap intensity.

Two aftershocks of 5.2 and 4.0 magnitude were recorded in the same region within 30 minutes of the initial tremor.

"The couch was shaking and we watched the plant dance on top of the table," Port Alberni's Wes Michalenko posted on The Huffington Post B.C. Facebook page.

Other readers said they felt the tremor in Comox, Courtenay and Campbell River. Some people in Vancouver high rises reported feeling the buildings sway. Lesley Woodrow GIbson said she felt "slight movement" in downtown Vancouver. "Thought I was having a dizzy spell or something," she wrote.

Earthquakes are common off the B.C. coast, where the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate meets the Pacific tectonic plate, but few are large enough to be felt by humans.

The most recent large quake was in October 2012, when a magnitude 7.8 quake shook the northern B.C. Haida Gwaii Islands. There was little damage and no tsunami was generated in that quake. - Huffington Post.

PLANETARY TREMORS: The Nootka Fault Zone - Strong 5.5 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Northern Vancouver Island, No Damage Reported!

August 05, 2013 - CANADA - A "moderate" quake shook the northern end of Vancouver Island early Sunday morning, waking many people in their beds as windows rattled and blinds swayed from the tremors.

USGS earthquake location.

Earthquakes Canada said the 5.5 magnitude quake hit at about 6:20 a.m. local time about 25 kilometres west of Nootka Island, off the north coast of Vancouver Island.

There were no reports of any damage or injuries, and no tsunami was expected.

"It woke up many people in communities on northern Vancouver Island," said John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada.

Earthquake rattles northern Vancouver Island, no damage reported.

"Because the earthquake was far enough away it wasn't strong enough to knock items off shelves or cause any damage but people certainly noticed five to 10 seconds of shaking where things were swaying back and forth."

Vancouver Island communities that felt the quake included Port Alice, Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Tahsis, Sointula and Alert Bay. Residents living in small communities on Nootka Island felt the quake as well.

The quake was caused by ocean plates rubbing together in a region known as the Nootka fault zone, said Cassidy.

"This is one of the seismic hotspots along the west coast," he said.

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013.

"We tend to get a band of seismicity along the region where those two ocean plates meet, and that's where today's earthquake occurred, it's a boundary between those two ocean plates."

Although the early-morning quake didn't cause any damage or injuries, it was a reminder of seismic activity in the area, said Cassidy.

"We live in a very active region. This is a direct result of plate movement," he said. "We know that energy is being stored for much larger earthquakes in the future...being prepared, knowing what to do, is really important."

Earthquakes Canada said small aftershocks from the quake could be felt through Sunday.

USGS earthquake shakemap intensity.

During an earthquake, those inside a home or building are advised to drop down and crawl under strong furniture, cover their head and neck and stay away from windows and shelves with heavy objects.

If unable to go under something strong, crouching or flattening oneself against an interior wall is advised.

Those outdoors during an earthquake are advised to stay away from power lines, buildings and the shore. Those in vehicles are advised to pull over and stay inside. - CTV News.

PLANETARY TREMORS: Magnitude 6.3 Quake Occurs Off Canada's Pacific Coast - No Damage Reported!

November 8, 2012 -  CANADA - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake has struck off the west coast of Canada but no damages have been reported and no tsunami warning has been issued.

Natural Resources Canada said the tremor occurred Wednesday night off Vancouver Island in the Pacific ocean, 85 miles (137 kilometers) southwest of Port Alice, British Columbia. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake was not expected to generate a tsunami.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the west coast of Canada on Oct. 28, but there were no reports of major damage. Residents in some communities in British Columbia were evacuated, but the province escaped the biggest quake in Canada since 1949 unscathed. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Guatemala earlier Wednesday, killing at least 48 people in two provinces. - FOX News.

Each year, seismologists with the Geological Survey of Canada record and locate more than 1000 earthquakes in western Canada. The Pacific Coast is the most earthquake-prone region of Canada. In the offshore region to the west of Vancouver Island, more than 100 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or greater (large enough to cause damage had they been closer to land) have occurred during the past 70 years. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the concentration of earthquakes along the west coast is related to the presence of active faults, or breaks in the earth's crust. The surface of the earth is always changing, as the earth's crust is made up of "plates" (like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle) that are constantly moving relative to one another at speed's of about 2-10 cm/year (about how fast your fingernails grow). The plates can either slide past one another, or they can collide, or they can diverge (or move apart).

The west coast of Canada is one of the few areas in the world where all three of these types of plate movements take place, resulting in significant earthquake activity. Earthquakes in this region occur along the faults in the offshore region (e.g., the M=8.1 Queen Charlotte Island earthquake of 1949); within the subducting ocean plate (e.g., a magnitude 6.5 earthquake beneath downtown Seattle in 1965); and within the continental crust (e.g., a magnitude 7.3 earthquake on central Vancouver Island in 1946). Moving inland from the coast (and the active plate boundaries), the frequency and size of the earthquakes decreases. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the least earthquake-prone areas in Canada. - Natural Resources Canada.

PLANETARY TREMORS: 5.7 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Vancouver Island, Canada Region!

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Vancouver Island on Saturday, February 04, 2012 at 20:05:32 UTC. The tremor was located at 48.867°N, 127.876°W with a depth of 12.8 km (8.0 miles).

The epicentre was located 170 km (105 miles) west of Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada; 206 km (128 miles) south of Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada; 229 km (142 miles) southwest of Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada; and 337 km (209 miles) west of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

There was a report on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) website of the quake centred in the Pacific Ocean and being felt in Vancouver, the largest city in British Columbia.

NOAA's West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center indicates that there was no danger of a tsunami from the earthquake, and there have been no reports of damage, said seismologist Shengzao Chen of the USGS.

PLANETARY TREMORS: 6.7 Quake Hits Vancouver Island, Canada!

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake has struck Vancouver Island, Canada Region at a depth of 25.9 km (16.1 miles). The quake hit at 19:41:35 UTC, Friday 9th September 2011 and was located at 49.474°N, 126.974°W. The epicentre was 138 km (86 miles) southwest of Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada; 140 km (87 miles) southeast (164°) from Port Hardy, BC, Canada; 212 km (132 miles) northwest (306°) from Neah Bay, WA; and 279 km (173 miles) west (276°) from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

No tsunami warning was issued and there are no reports of any damage at this time.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Vancouver Island at 12:41 p.m. today was felt in Metro Vancouver. The epicenter was located 135 kilometers south-southeast of the town of Port Hardy on the island, the USGS said in its assessment. The USGS reported it was at a depth of 25.9 kilometres, revising its original assessment that it was only two kilometres below the surface. No tsunami warning has been issued. The website said no there's no "destructive widespread tsunami threat" but earthquakes of this size sometimes generate locate tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometres of the earthquake epicentre. "Authorities in the region of the epicentre should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action." In the Vancouver Sun newsroom, lights swayed for a half-minute when the quake struck. There were no immediate signs of damage in downtown Vancouver. The earthquake shook buildings in the tiny Vancouver Island community of Zeballos, but there appeared to be no damage and there were no injuries. The power went down but came back quickly, said Arlene Coburn, a 38-year resident of the remote west coast community. Coburn was at the school when the earthquake hit. She said that it felt like the whole building was going to topple over, but nothing fell off the walls. "One big one, and a little tremor, and that was it," she said. "It gave [the school] a good sway." The 60 or so children that attend the Zeballos Elementary Secondary School were ushered out and across a bridge, a measure used when there's a concern of a Tsunami, said Coburn, a part-time janitor at the school. Arlene's husband Geoff said there were no injuries and no damage as far as he knew in the community of about 200 people. "There was no cause for panic," said Geoff. The quake created a slight rattling as far away as Seattle, Washington, but police in the U.S. city said there were no reports of damage. The list of cities where the quake was felt includes San Francisco and Edmonton. - Vancouver Sun.

This 6.7 quake has taken place within the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This zone is possibly hundreds of years overdue for a major quake event, and I  have concluded that this quake may be a possible precursor for a much larger quake in the days to come along the west coast of Canada and the United States. More than likely California. I will continue observing the zone and its geologic activity and give updates when available. Many buildings within the Cascadia subduction zone are not built to withstand a quake event of the magnitude that would result from the plate slipping and relieving its pressure.

Stay tuned. More anon.