VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 28, 2008

Series Of Quakes Shaking Up B.C. Coast

Tremors In "Seismically Active" Region Too Small For Tsunami And Too Far To Be Felt On Land

  •  (AP)

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(AP)  A strong earthquake struck off Canada's west coast early Thursday near Vancouver Island. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.

The epicenter of the magnitude-6.1 quake was 97 miles west of Port Hardy and 293 miles west northwest of Vancouver, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It struck at a depth of about 6 miles.

Geological Survey of Canada scientist Garry Rogers said there were no reports of injuries or damages and said it occurred too far off land for there to be any. He said it's normal activity for the region and there's nothing to be alarmed about.

The quake was the latest in a series of coastal tremors since Monday. Two quakes rattled the area Wednesday, both with magnitudes of around 5. There have been 18 quakes with a magnitude greater than four in the region this week.

Seismologists said the tremors are occurring in a "seismically active" region, and they are too far offshore to be felt on land and too small to generate a tsunami.

"Rarely a day goes by where we don't have an earthquake. Once a year we have a swarm in the high fours, maybe a five. Once a decade we have a six," Rogers said. "It's one of the most busiest earthquake areas in the world."

Rogers said new ocean crust is forming in the area and that's why it's so active geologically.

© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 15 Comments
by deacon20081 August 28, 2008 9:22 PM EDT
The GOP_forever - SoccerMOM needs to take her meds.
Is it those voices again dear?
Reply to this comment
by xxunknown August 28, 2008 7:43 PM EDT
I heard GOP lives in New Orleans and God is coming to get her.
Reply to this comment
by observer2020 August 28, 2008 6:52 PM EDT
This is prayer at work, God smiles upon the people of BC.
Posted by gop_forever

WAY TOO FUNNY! This poster just makes my day!
Reply to this comment
by drinuk August 28, 2008 6:47 PM EDT
docpeter, I got a million of ''em !
Reply to this comment
by docpeter-2009 August 28, 2008 6:33 PM EDT
Now we know what Cheney is up to, Satan is planning to sink Canada.

Posted by drinuk at 01:46 PM : Aug 28, 2008
________________
In the words of Larry The Cable Guy, "I don''t care who you are, now that is funny."
Reply to this comment
by jsilver2th August 28, 2008 6:10 PM EDT
Posted by gop_forever: "This is prayer at work, God smiles upon the people of BC."

Here''s a poor soul that thinks this relates to religion and politics-

You''d better think twice before you use this as evidence of God punishing sinners-

"Puget Sound for decades has been home to the big Ohio-class Trident nuclear ballistic-missile submarines based at Bangor, north of Bremerton. ...
There are now 22 Navy ships based in the Puget Sound area, including 10 nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarines, eight of which carry Trident nuclear ballistic missiles (with two converted to carry conventional ballistic missiles and 66 Navy SEALs), two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, two guided-missile destroyers and three guided-missile frigates.
By contrast, the southernmost West Coast Navy city, San Diego, is home to 45 Navy ships."
Reply to this comment
by jsilver2th August 28, 2008 5:58 PM EDT
We live in Central Oregon and can see Mt. St. Helens-in ''80 nobody even comprehended what was happening. We have very excellent scientists but they don''t really know what''s happening. There''s probably no way that they could.

A few miles from us near Maupin Or. there has developed an earth quake "swarm." We had the largest quake 4.2 earlier this month. Believe me this is not earth quake country. The spot is not a known fault line. If you are interested: http://www.pnsn.org/NEWS/PRESS_RELEASES/maupin/

Right to the South there is the "Sisters Bulge" (on the Three Sisters Mountains) near Bend, Or. This is quiet lately for quakes but I understand the huge bulge continues to grow, this is approx. 100 sq. miles.
http://www.pnsn.org/NEWS/PRESS_RELEASES/March242004Info.html

I''m not a scientist but what is "normal activity" depends on the time frame you look at I guess. There''s also a very active swarm off S. Oregon coast.

I guess this could all go away tomorrow. I think the poster that said they may be down playing this is close to the money.

There''s no emergency preparedeness out here in the desert there probably isn''t much to do anyway. Local officials shake their heads in wonder ff asked about preparedeness for a major quake.

You may think your not connected but the federal power line carrying NW juice to S. Cal. is right on top of that Maupin swarm and the big West Coast natural gas line is close too. Well probably nothing will come of it-
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by lynda_rivers August 28, 2008 5:01 PM EDT
Check out the USGS site. They are reporting well over 20 quakes with magnitudes greater than 4.0 occuring in the last 36 hours along the Juan de **** Plate. Sounds like Garry Rogers is minimizing what''s happening.
Reply to this comment
by drinuk August 28, 2008 4:46 PM EDT
Now we know what Cheney is up to, Satan is planning to sink Canada.
Reply to this comment
by xmanborg August 28, 2008 4:26 PM EDT
Its the Cascadia Sub-duction Zone and there is going to be a Massive Quake and a Huge Tsunami, just like the one in the Indian Ocean.

Get READY.
Reply to this comment
by erasmus81 August 28, 2008 3:57 PM EDT
"In other words, there are no sinners in/near BC, according to GOP_forever" Posted by docpeter at 12:49 PM : Aug 28, 2008

Well......I know I haven''t seen any!:)
Reply to this comment
by erasmus81 August 28, 2008 3:55 PM EDT
Hmmm, I''m thinking maybe I should be getting more stuff together for my earthquake survival kit.
Reply to this comment
by docpeter-2009 August 28, 2008 3:49 PM EDT
This is prayer at work, God smiles upon the people of BC.

Posted by gop_forever at 11:58 AM : Aug 28, 2008
______________
In other words, there are no sinners in/near BC, according to GOP_forever
Reply to this comment
by wwudiver August 28, 2008 3:34 PM EDT
It''s Port Hardy! This article should read: "The three people there are fine, one Eagle was confused, two black bears remain unavailable for comment. SCUBA still bodacious."
Reply to this comment
by missingamerica August 28, 2008 3:04 PM EDT
"He said it''s normal activity for the region and there''s nothing to be alarmed about."

Nothing to worry about, huh? Maybe not there...

I''m no specialist in tectonic plate movement, but I can''t help but think of the major fault lines like a giant tug-of-war, with thousands of people holding the rope.

As the plates slide, the rope (the juncture between plates) builds tension at "pinch points" (think of everybody holding the rope).

Suddenly, the guy in front of you releases his grip (and the ground shudders in B.C.)...then the amount of tension that you must hold further down the line ramps up...until you let your grip slip, placing more load on the folks behind you...etc., ad infinitum.

lolll....probably a completely off-kilter way to look at it, as things that seem to be easy to visualize sometimes are...
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