Magnitude 5.2 earthquake strikes off the coast of Vancouver Island

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake has struck the coast of Vancouver Island.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the seismic event took place on Friday evening at 7:14 pm PST in the Port Hardy area.

EARTHQUAKE Mag=4.9 on 22 May at 19:14 PDT.

Details : https://t.co/En7VGZP3Hj

129 km W of Port Alice, BC

— Earthquakes Canada (@CANADAquakes) May 23, 2020

Earthquakes Canada says that there are no reports of damage and no tsunami expected.

The USGS says that the earthquake had a depth of 10 km. It struck 307 km west of Campbell River and 295 km northwest of Tofino.

• See also:
  • 13 earthquake safety steps to follow when the ground starts shaking
  • 43 things every Vancouverite needs in their earthquake emergency kit
  • Here’s how Vancouver would be impacted by a major earthquake (MAP)

Last December, British Columbia saw a peculiar string of seismic activity — nine earthquakes over a three-day span.

Thousands of earthquakes occur in BC every year, but only a small fraction of these tremors have a notable magnitude of 3.0 and over.

An increase in an earthquake’s magnitude of 1.0 — such as the difference between a magnitude 4.0 earthquake and a magnitude 5.0 earthquake — is a 10-fold difference in the energy of an earthquake.

As a further example, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake is 1,000 times more powerful than a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. Shallow earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 can still cause significant damage when the epicentre is near urban areas, and the impact is amplified with a shallow depth.