Magnitude-4.8 earthquake widely felt across Washington state

An quake struck near Sidney, British Columbia, according to Earthquakes Canada. No injuries or serious property damage were reported and Earthquakes Canada said none would be expected from a shaker of that size.

That kind of “megathrust” quake is quite rare, but the City of Vancouver says the region has a 1 in 4 chance of experiencing a major natural disaster in the next 50 years. Some of them were not perceptible to humans, but several were; jolts with preliminary magnitudes of 3.8 and 3.2 followed just five and seven minutes, respectively, after the mainshock.

The first quake was upgraded from initial reports that it was a 4.3-magnitude temblor.

Neither U.S. nor Canadian officials have reported any injuries or significant damage, and the National Weather Service says there is no risk of tsunami along coastal regions.

Many people felt their beds shake, heard dressers or windows rattle, and many small objects in homes were tipped over.

The Pacific Plate is moving at a rate of about four to five centimetres per year; that’s about how fast your fingernails grow, according to John Cassidy, a seismologist at Earthquakes Canada.

Anthony Yanez explains what we know about the multiple aftershocks on the NBC4 News at 6 on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015.

Cassidy told CBC that the B.C. and California quakes are likely not related because they’re part of different fault lines. She said the shaking appears to have been strongest, lasting up to 10 seconds in some cases, in the island’s south end.

“I just worry that there will be a bigger one that will cause a lot of damage”, she said.

The natural disaster should serve as a reminder to ensure emergency kits are ready and to follow the proper “drop, cover and hold on” response.

“It felt like a truck had crashed into my building, except there was no noise (other than rattling of objects)”, wrote one commenter on the CBC website.