Slight shaking felt in Port Hardy, B.C., during magnitude 4.8 quake

SIDNEY, B.C. – Some north Vancouver Island residents woke up to a “lightly felt” earthquake early Tuesday morning.

Natural Resources Canada says the magnitude 4.8 quake struck about 210 kilometres west of Port Hardy, B.C., just after 6 a.m.

There are no reports of damage and no tsunami is expected.

The quake was based in the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate.

Sidney-based earthquake seismologist Taimi Mulder says earthquakes occur regularly in the region, but most are not felt.

She says this one was slightly larger than others and people are more likely to have noticed it because of the time of day it occurred, after they were sleeping but before they got distracted with busy days.

“It’s a slightly larger event, but it is part of the normal pattern of earthquakes in that area and it just serves as a reminder to be prepared,” she said.

It has no relation to the “Big One,” a large-scale earthquake that seismologists are predicting could strike the west coast of B.C. in the coming decades or centuries, Mulder said.