Earthquake swarm registered off the coast of B.C., Canada
A swarm of earthquakes is being registered off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The cluster zone is about 186 kilometres SW of Bella Bella, northwest of Vancouver Island, where the Juan de Fuca plate begins to meet the North American tectonic plate.
The swarm started on Saturday, December 20, at 22:54 UTC with M4.3 earthquake at a depth of 10 km. It was followed by M5.1 at 02:57 UTC, the strongest so far, at the same depth. Four more strong tremors were registered by early Monday morning (UTC time). See the map and list below and latest USGS updated map here.
While it is generally believed that smaller earthquakes may delay the “Big One” by relieving pressure along the fault lines, seismologists say this is incorrect. Smaller seismic events do relieve some pressure, however, it requires many small earthquakes to release the same energy given off by one significant earthquake, VanCityBuzz writes.
Image credit: USGS
- 4.32014-12-22 06:51:41 UTC13.6 km
- 4.52014-12-21 10:45:46 UTC10.0 km
- 4.02014-12-21 10:19:49 UTC22.2 km
- 4.92014-12-21 09:40:48 UTC12.4 km
- 5.12014-12-21 02:57:38 UTC10.0 km
- 4.32014-12-20 22:54:33 UTC10.0 km
Featured image: USGS
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