Magnitude 5.5 earthquake detected off Vancouver Island coast

A modestly powerful earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.5 has hit the west coast of Vancouver Island.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the seismic event occurred at 5:48 a.m. this morning about 198 kilometres west of Port Hardy. It had a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

No damage can be expected given the offshore location.

This was the second earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater to hit the area since Tuesday. On Tuesday, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake was also detected at the exact same location.

Thousands of earthquakes hit B.C. annually, but only a fraction of these events are detectable by instruments or felt.