Hundreds of tiny, harmless tremors detected under Vancouver Island, Juan de Fuca Strait
Posted August 19, 2019 12:25 pm.
Last Updated August 19, 2019 12:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Hundreds of tiny, harmless tremors were recorded under Vancouver Island and the Juan de Fuca Strait over the weekend.
John Cassidy is an Earthquake Seismologist with Earthquakes Canada, and says these tremors are simply the result of geology. He says British Columbians shouldn’t be worried the tremors are signaling a larger earthquake to come.
“There were a huge number of these tiny tremors. They’re not earthquakes – it’s ground-shaking that we can record,” he says. “They’re not felt by anyone, but we’re able to record these and locate them with the seismic stations that we operate in this region. It’s a phenomenon that occurs on Vancouver Island every 14 to 15 months.”
Cassidy says they’ve been happening for a long time, but it’s still important to record them.
“We’re also able to use this information to understand where that ocean plate, where the fault is locked and where it’s storing energy for future earthquakes, and to map out the area where we expect future earthquakes,” he says. “We can then estimate what sort of ground-shaking will occur here.”
Scientists have only begun to detect these tiny tremors in the last 25 years, Cassidy says, which is why the public is hearing more about them now.
“Certainly they’re a good reminder that we do live in an active earthquake zone.”
