A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck about 200 kilometres west of Vancouver Island on Friday morning (April 27 2012) but there were no reports of it being felt by island residents.

The quake struck around 1:36 a.m. PT, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The local media says Earthquakes of that size are common in the area and “experts say they do not indicate a large earthquake is more likely.”

How do “experts” know that? After all, they’re the same experts who consistently say you can’t predict earthquakes.

We’d say you could look at this the other way too, because as the U.S. Geological Service says, there were three quakes of similar magnitude in the area over the past five days, and there have been several more reported in recent months.
In September, a 6.4-magnitude quake that rumbled across Vancouver Island was felt as far away as B.C.’s Okanagan Valley to the east and Seattle to the south, but caused no injuries or damage.

For a more in-depth understanding of the Cascadian Subdcution Zone and its expected release of a M9.0 earthquake, this is a good article. (The fact that some predictions were being made as to the “when” of it, is up to you to evaluate. We do not make predictions. We make advance preparations instead.

Sincerely.

Michael Knight
Portland Preparedness Center
Cnr 72nd and Glisan
Open Mon – Sat 10-6