A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit just off the coast of Vancouver Island last Friday, resulting in small tremors on the Sunshine Coast, which some people felt and some didn't.
"This earthquake shook the lights in the lobby of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD). I'm 20 feet away and I didn't feel it at all, but other people did feel it here," said SCRD emergency preparedness co-ordinator Bill Elsner.
No damage was reported as a result of the quake, just shaking light fixtures, rolling aquarium water and shifting pictures on walls.
The quake struck Sept. 9 at 12:41 p.m. and, depending on where you were at the time, you may have felt a small rumble, a rolling sensation or nothing at all.
The earthquake was first reported as being a magnitude 6.7, but it was later downgraded to 6.4. It originated 23 km underground, according to the National Earth-quake Information Centre.
The earthquake occurred along the Nootka fault line, and Elsner said, "It wasn't a surprise to anybody who's in this business."
He was unwilling to speculate as to whether Coasters could expect more quakes to come as a result of last Friday's event.
"There are lots of theories on it, and I'm taking that from numerous conversations with seismologists. I'm distilling it down to say that nobody really knows, and it doesn't really matter because this should be a good warning to everybody that they should prepare. So that's the message that I would certainly like to get across," he said.
Elsner said every resident of the Sunshine Coast should have a week-long emergency preparedness kit compiled and ready to use in the event of an emergency like an earthquake. That kit should include basics like water, food, a flashlight, a radio, extra batteries and a first aid kit. There are many more things that could be included; for a complete list, you can go to www.scrd.ca and look under the emergency program heading.
Elsner sees the recent earthquake as a wake-up call for people who don't have a kit already assembled.
"The fact is it was a big earthquake, and if it was in a populated area, it would have caused a lot of damage. The main message is it's a good reminder for people to get prepared," Elsner said.
Besides getting an emergency preparedness kit together, Elsner suggests you have a plan in place to contact loved ones, have an alternate meeting place identified in case you can't get home, and go over the "drop, cover and hold on" techniques to use in the event of an earthquake.
Elsner encourages people to sign up for the next Great B.C. Shakeout exercise scheduled for Oct. 20 to practice the drop, cover and hold on techniques and focus in on emergency preparedness. You can sign up at www.shakeoutbc.ca.
Elsner hopes the recent earthquake will make people care a little more about being prepared.
"Like after Japan they cared until the Stanley Cup playoffs. I did about 24 public presentations from March until right before the playoffs started, and then everybody forgot. So this is another little gentle nudge, so to speak," he noted.
More reminders of the need to prepare came in the days that followed the Sept. 9 quake. The National Earthquake Information Centre reported more than 100 aftershocks, the largest registering a magnitude 4.9.
And at Coast Reporter press time on Sept. 15, news of five more earthquakes around the world came in. The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program reported a 5.1 magnitude quake in the Bouvet Island Region in the South Atlantic, a 5.1 magnitude quake in southern China, a 3.2 magnitude quake on the Island of Hawaii, a 4.7 magnitude quake in Eastern Honshu, Japan and a 3.7 magnitude quake in central Alaska, all occurring on the morning of Sept. 15.
