Aftershocks expected to continue for several days
Posted Oct 29, 2012 06:52:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Aftershocks continue off our northwestern coast after one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in Canada.
There have not been any reports of injuries or significant damage following last nights quake off Haida Gwaii.
The 7.7 earthquake is the second largest recorded in BC in the last 60 years.
Seismologist John Cassidy says the aftershocks that are still being felt are expected to continue for several more days.
“They are natural, and at one point, we were recording aftershocks about every two to three minutes, so we’ve recorded hundreds of aftershock during the past 16 or 18 hours,” he explains.
Cassidy says because aftershocks are often shallower than the original epicenter, they feel very different.
“[They] can continue for days, if not weeks, and although they are are smaller, aftershocks can actually be closer than the original earthquake was. So in some cases, you can actually feel stronger shaking from the aftershock than from the original earthquake.”
Cassidy adds that because the quake was caused by the horizontal movement of tectonic plates, rather than vertical, that really decreased the risk of a tsunami.
The largest aftershock measured a magnitude of 6.4, which is something Cassidy says follows worldwide averages.
