Mild earthquake felt on Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland

A 3.8 magnitude earthquake near Sidney, B.C., rattled parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver Thursday morning. 

Earthquakes Canada reports it happened just after 4 a.m. PT. The earthquake’s centre was about 11 kilometres east of Sidney, B.C., and about 75 kilometres south of Vancouver. 

Collin Paul, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said the earthquake was “lightly felt” along the south coast of Vancouver Island, between Sooke and Ladysmith, and in Metro Vancouver. 

“People in Victoria had light shaking, and in Vancouver, we had weak shaking,” he said. 

Paul said no damage was reported, and none is expected for an earthquake of this size.

An interactive map by Earthquakes Canada shows residents reported feeling the earthquake as far as Chilliwack and Nanaimo. 

Paul said an earthquake of this magnitude is expected to happen once a decade. 

“This is one of the more significant events we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” he said, adding the last earthquake from the same area was reported in 2015.