A shallow and significant M5.2 earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean 267 kilometer from Vernon Lake, Canada in the evening of Monday February 24th, 2025. The USGS has indicated there is a potential risk at tsunami's following this earthquake.
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Earthquake Summary
This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 184 kilometers (114 mi) off the coast of Canada, 267 kilometer west of Vernon Lake in British Columbia. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.
| Date and Time: | Feb 24, 2025 21:37 (Vancouver Time) - Feb 25, 2025 05:37 Universal Time. |
|---|---|
| Location: | 267 km west of Vernon Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Coordinates 50°29'17"N 130°2'43"W. |
| Map: |  Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps. |
| Magnitude: | MAG 5.2 Detected by 5 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.05 . |
| Depth: | 10 km (6 mi) A very shallow depth. |
| Tsunami Risk: | Potential tsunami risk The USGS has indicated there is a potential risk at tsunami's following this earthquake. Always stay cautious - More info here. |
Potential tsunami risk
There is a potential tsunami risk in the aftermath of this earthquake, immediately evacuate to higher grounds away from coastal areas and monitor advice from local authorities. The US Geographic Survey organization has indicated a potential risk for tsunami's following this earthquake.
Tsunami Risk Factors
| Factor | Under Sea? | MAG-6.5 or stronger? | Shallow depth? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explanation | Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami. | Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's. |
Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor. |
| This Earthquake | This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea. | Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.2. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami. |
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 10 km (6 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami. |
Nearby towns and cities
This earthquake may have been felt in Canada . Vernon Lake in British Columbia, Canada is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 267 kilometer (166 mi) west of Vernon Lake.
Overview of nearby places
| Distance | Place |
|---|---|
| 267 km (166 mi) E from epicenter |
Vernon Lake British Columbia, Canada. |
Shaking reported by 19 people
People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 19 people have reported shaking in 9 places, all within Canada.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.
Places with most reports:
- Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: 7 people.
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: 5 people.
- Sidney, British Columbia, Canada: 1 person.
- Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada: 1 person.
- Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada: 1 person.
- One Hundred Mile House, British Columbia, Canada: 1 person.
- Parksville, British Columbia, Canada: 1 person.
- Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada: 1 person.
- Terrace, British Columbia, Canada: 1 person.
2 Aftershocks detected
After this earthquake struck, 2 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 43 km (26 mi) south-southeast of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 3 days later. It measured a magnitude of 3.9
In the days before this main shock, 1 smaller foreshock was detected. A 3.4 magnitude earthquake hit 5 hrs earlier nearby.
Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks
| Classification | Magnitude | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreshock | M 3.4 |
5 hrs earlier Feb 24, 2025 16:40 (Vancouver Time) | 42 km (26 mi) SSE from Main Shock. |
| Main Shock This Earthquake |
M 5.2 |
Feb 24, 2025 21:37 (Vancouver Time) | - |
| Aftershock | M 3.2 |
3 days later Feb 27, 2025 17:21 (Vancouver Time) | 47 km (29 mi) SSE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.9 |
3 days later Feb 27, 2025 17:29 (Vancouver Time) | 43 km (26 mi) SSE from Main Shock. |
More earthquakes coming?
Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.
It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.
Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).Earthquakes like this happen often in the region
Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since September 15th, 2024, when a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit 131 km (81 mi) further north-northwest. An even stronger magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck on October 22nd, 2018.
In total, 24 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 5 months.
Sources
Last updated 15/03/25 00:58 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.
- US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pv9t
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250225_0000075
- Geonames.org: World Cities Database
- Google Maps: Static API
- Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database
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