A magnitude 4.1 earthquake has struck the coast of Vancouver Island.
According to Earthquakes Canada, the seismic event took place on Tuesday afternoon at 3:28 pm in Tofino and 340 km southwest of Port Alice.
Automatic detection of seismic event: magnitude 4.1 – 16 Feb 15:28 PST – TOFINO, BC region
— Earthquakes Canada (@CANADAquakes) February 16, 2021
A report has yet to be issued by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and a statement has not yet been issued by Emergency Info BC.
EARTHQUAKE Mag=4 on 16 Feb at 15:28 PST.
Details : https://t.co/4Oo1DJlrNb
340 km SW of Port Alice, BC
— Earthquakes Canada (@CANADAquakes) February 16, 2021
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Each year, the province sees thousands of earthquakes, but only a small fraction of them reach a magnitude of 3.0 and over.
An increase in an earthquake’s magnitude of even 1.0 – such as the difference between a 4.0 magnitude earthquake and 5.0 magnitude earthquake – is a tremendous difference in the power of an earthquake.
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake is 1,000 times more powerful than one of 5.0 magnitude, as a further example. If an earthquake is shallow with a 5.0 magnitude, it can still cause powerful damage when the epicentre is nearby urban areas. The impact of the quake is amplified with a shallow depth.