What you need to know about earthquakes
Every year, there are about 500,000 earthquakes – 100,000 of which can be felt on the Earth’s surface. But how do earthquakes work? We explain.
Just the FAQs
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook southwestern Canada near Vancouver on Thursday.
The epicenter of the quake was around 130 miles from Tofino, a small district on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Ocean off Canada’s west coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tofino is around 130 miles west of Vancouver. The quake’s depth was around 6.2 miles.
A population of around 2,000 in Tofino would be exposed to light shaking, the Survey said.
The rumbling was first detected just after 8 am local time. Its magnitude was first estimated at 6.5 by the USGS, before it was downgraded to 6.4 minutes later.
Around an hour later, another quake of a 5.4 magnitude rumbled around 115 miles west of Tofino, USGS reported.
An earthquake of a magnitude more than 6 is considered strong, and could cause damage to “poorly constructed buildings and other structures” up to around 62 miles away, according to the Canadian government.
The USGS said there was no risk of a tsunami following the quake.
The quake comes less than a week after a magnitude 5 earthquake struck the same area on Friday morning. The earlier earthquake also centered in the Pacific Ocean off Canada’s coastline, nearly 150 miles from Tofino, and had the same recorded depth.