A 6.4-magnitude earthquake was recorded off the coast of B.C.’s Vancouver Island Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Initially, the earthquake was reported by USGS as 6.6 magnitude, but it was later downgraded to 6.4. Earthquakes Canada recorded the earthquake’s intensity as 6.1 magnitude, about 183 kilometres southwest of Port Alice.
The earthquake, which happened about 209 kilometres away from Tofino, was recorded just after 8 a.m. According to Emergency Info BC, there is no tsunami threat to the West Coast.
Last week, a cluster of earthquakes was recorded off the west coast of Vancouver Island, varying in intensity up to 5.7 magnitude recorded on July 4. Those tremors were all clustered in an area approximately 150 to 250 kilometres from Tofino.
Andrew Schaeffer, an earthquake seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, said last week that despite the uptick in seismic activity, the quakes were “business as usual” for the region.
“These are spreading ridge earthquakes, with historical magnitudes up to about 6, but 4s and 5s are relatively common,” he said in an emailed statement to CTV News.
“Due to the type of earthquake, these do not typically produce any sort of tsunami, nor would we expect them to be felt, let alone cause damage, on Vancouver Island.”
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Todd Coyne