NANAIMO — It was brief, and not very powerful, but the ground shook around the region on Friday.
Seismologists with the US Geological Survey, who track earthquakes across the globe, detected a 2.4 magnitude tremor east of Nanaimo around 4:50 p.m. on Friday, July 8.
Some scattered reports of a loud boom, or distant explosion, were made as far away as the Sunshine Coast around the same time, however it’s unclear whether the two incidents were related.
Earthquakes of this magnitude are not expected to result in any tsunami alerts or warnings, and are not considered strong enough to cause any damage to buildings or infrastructure.
Despite the proximity, few reports of shaking resulted from Nanaimo or Vancouver Island itself.
Several residents along the Sunshine Coast were particularly shook from the event.
“Yes my house shook really hard, twice,” Kae Eigler posted on a Sunshine Coast-based Facebook group. “Sounded like and felt like someone drove into the side of the house.”
“I thought someone drove their truck into our house,” Kimberly Swaffield added to the same post. “Super loud thump and minor movement. Enough to make the dogs jump to their feet.”
The quake itself occurred at a depth of 19.1 kilometres below sea level.
Two other earthquakes were recorded by the USGS in June, with 1.7 magnitude tremors detected on June 19 and June 25.
A third recent earthquake, measuring 1.9 on the Richter scale was reported off Nanoose Bay on Tuesday, July 5.
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