Magnitude 4.4 earthquake detected off Vancouver Island coast

The US Geological Survey has detected a magnitude 4.4 earthquake just off the northwestern coast of Vancouver Island.

At 8:36 a.m., the earthquake hit near the undersea fault line approximately 177 kilometres west of Port Hardy. Seismologists have identified the epicentre at 50.667°N and129.927°W with a shallow depth of just 10 kilometres.

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However, given the far distance from populated areas and relatively low magnitude, the tremor was not felt on land.

This comes after August 12’s magnitude 4.0 event, which had a epicentre located only a few kilometres away from this morning’s earthquake. Both earthquakes are the largest seismic events within the vicinity of southern B.C. since April 23‘s magnitude 6.7 event.

Feature Image: USGS