(UPDATED) Magnitude 4.3 earthquake felt in Vancouver

11:48 PM PST, TUE DECEMBER 29, 2015

Image: USGS

A large magnitude 4.3 earthquake was felt in Metro Vancouver late this evening at 11:40 p.m.

According to the federal government’s Natural Resources Canada department, the earthquake had a deep depth of 58.7 kilometres and an epicentre 19 kilometres northeast of Victoria and eight kilometres east-southeast of Sidney – right under the Strait of Georgia. It was also felt strongly on Vancouver Island and elsewhere on the B.C. South Coast.

The seismic event was originally classified as a magnitude 4.9 event by the U.S. Geological Survey, but it was downgraded shortly after.

There are no reports of any significant damage at this time. As well, no tsunami alert has been issued – a tsunami is not expected given the magnitude and location. SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines were shut down for approximately an hour as a safety precaution to ensure the elevated guideways were not damaged by the tremors.

This is the second moderate earthquake to strike the North American West Coast on Tuesday. At 5:48 p.m., a magnitude 4.4 earthquake was centred four kilometres outside of Devore, California – about 48 kilometres east of Los Angeles. There have been a number of smaller aftershocks since the initial event.