A 4.5-magnitude earthquake struck 42 km east of Sidney, B.C., Monday morning.
The earthquake, which occurred at 5:02 a.m. PT, was lightly felt around Victoria and Vancouver, according to Earthquakes Canada.
It occurred near Orcas Island, Wash., which is between Vancouver and Seattle and just south of B.C.’s Southern Gulf Islands.
A statement said there are no reports of damage, and a public alert was not issued because the magnitude and intensity were below thresholds at which harm might be expected. It says there is also no tsunami risk.
Dozens of people on Vancouver Island wrote to CBC News that they felt the earthquake.
John Cassidy, seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said he felt the earthquake this morning from North Saanich.
“It was a bit of a rude awakening,” Cassidy said on CBC’s On The Island Monday morning.
Cassidy said the earthquake was about 15-20 km deep, and was felt over the entire region from Courtenay down to Tacoma, Wash.
He said there have been four earthquakes felt in Victoria over the past two weeks, but none of the activity is unusual as there are earthquakes in the region every day.
“They’re all different, they’re far enough apart, we wouldn’t expect to see these connected in any way,” said Cassidy.
Cassidy says those who felt the quake should fill out the Earthquakes Canada “Did you feel it?” form.
“It helps us to better understand ground shaking across urban areas.”
