A major earthquake that rumbled across Vancouver Island was felt as far away as B.C.'s Okanagan Valley to the east and Seattle to the south, but caused no injuries and apparently little damage when it hit midday Friday.
The estimated 6.4-magnitude tremor occurred at 12:41 p.m. PT, with an epicentre about 50 kilometres off the west coast of the island, about 300 kilometres west of Vancouver.The village is one of the closest to the earthquake’s epicentre 18 kilometres below the surface off the coast of B.C. The school in Zeballos with 90 students was closed after the earthquake struck at 12:41 p.m. local time.
Bellavie said there’s no sign of any damage to infrastructures from the quake, which rattled dishes in area homes.The shaking was caused by what's known as a crustal earthquake, which means it was believed to have occurred in the top 15 kilometres of the Earth's crust.
That sort of quake isn't unusual for the region, said Garry Rogers, an earthquake scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada.B.C.'s coast is a seismically active zone with small quakes not being uncommon. Larger seismic events have struck the area. In 2001, a 6.8 quake struck Washington state causing property damage in Seattle. In 1980 Mt. Saint Helens, located just 150 km south of Seattle, erupted showering ash all over the region and disrupting air travel.
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