Third earthquake: magnitude 6.0 aftershock hits BC coast

Dec 23 2019, 8:26 pm

Three earthquakes have now hit the coast of British Columbia, all within the span of three hours.

The first earthquake registered as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake and occurred at 8:44 am PST. The second was a magnitude 5.6 earthquake and occurred at 11:13 am PST.

Now, at 11:49 am PST, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake has struck the coast of Vancouver Island.

The US Geological Survey says that the third quake had an epicentre 170 km west of Port Hardy, and 332 km west-northwest of Tofino.

Similar to this morning’s quakes, the depth of the earthquake was 10 km. A tsunami is also not expected.

While thousands of earthquakes occur in British Columbia every year, only a small fraction of them have a magnitude of 3.0 and over.

On July 3, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck near the same area as the quakes that took place this morning.

In October 2018, an unusual trio of major earthquakes struck within the span of an hour with magnitudes of 6.5, 6.6, and 6.8 — all in the same area off the northern coast of Vancouver Island.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 and over is considered a seismic event with significant destructive potency, especially if it were to hit with a shallow depth near population centres.

With files from Kenneth Chan. 

Vincent PlanaVincent Plana

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