Some north Vancouver Island residents woke up to a “lightly felt” earthquake early Tuesday.
Natural Resources Canada said the magnitude-4.8 quake struck about 210 kilometres west of Port Hardy just after 6 a.m. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the earthquake as magnitude 4.6.
There were no reports of damage.
The quake was based in the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate.
Sidney-based earthquake seismologist Taimi Mulder said earthquakes occur regularly in the region, but most are not felt.
This one was slightly larger than others and people are more likely to have noticed it because of the time of day it occurred, after many had risen but before they got distracted with busy days, she said.
“It’s a slightly larger event, but it is part of the normal pattern of earthquakes in that area and it just serves as a reminder to be prepared,” Mulder said.
It has no relation to the “Big One,” a large-scale earthquake that seismologists are predicting could strike the west coast of B.C. in the coming decades or centuries, she said.
— With a file from the Times Colonist
