A 4.9 magnitude earthquake was felt across Metro Vancouver and other parts of B.C. on Sunday, Dec. 17.
The and was felt by people on northern and central Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and in many parts of Metro Vancouver, according to Earthquakes Canada.
The tremor was felt in places as far away as Kelowna, more than 350 kilometres from its epicentre southwest of Mount Waddington.
Several Metro Vancouverites took to social media following the earthquake, commenting that they felt shaking in areas including Burnaby, Coquitlam, Langley, Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Richmond.
One local shared that they felt the tremor a whopping 26 storeys up in their apartment building.
Felt it in North Van!
— Janelle Bell™ (@jaayday)
Felt it in Vancouver, west end
— Rachel Penner (she/her) (@rachpenner)
Felt in Burnaby
— Steve Seaborn. (@steve_seaborn)
Felt it in Vancouver!
— Kari (@canadiankari)
I felt it in UBC, Vancouver
— NikanGunners (@NikanGunners)
Felt it in Richmond.
— Taryn Bell 馃嚚馃嚘 (@TarynPBell)
Felt in Vancouver 26 stories up.
— D€€ (@desertfeet)
Oh, that explains the wiggling and vertigo in Langley
— 馃嚚馃嚘tiggy馃嚭馃嚘 (@bctiggygirl)
In other parts of the province, such as on Vancouver Island, people reported feeling more dramatic effects from the quake. One person says they felt their door rattle in Parksville, which is located on the central east coast of the island.
A Sechelt resident said they heard creaking and popping that "sounded like a patio door sliding open."
Doors rattled in Parksville
— Lord Un (@Lord_Un_TheBest)
I felt and heard the quake around 3:25 pm here in sechelt bc. The house creaked and popped also sounded like a patio door sliding open but on checking noone was there. Cool!
— judy marusiak (@JMarusiak33097)
Locals react to the decision to remove X/Twitter account
Earthquakes Canada has announced that it will on its X/Twitter account starting in January 2024.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has used its social media channels to alert the public about natural disasters, including earthquakes and tsunamis. It encourages the public to use , or sign-up to its RSS feed.
In response to the news, many British Columbians said they felt that critical information won't make it to the public if it isn't available on social media.
Following the B.C. quake, one person cheekily quipped, "Wow I am sure glad you have an X account! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known this was happening, such a good service to communicate during a disaster."
Several other locals chimed in following the local tremor, questioning why the government would end a service that provides information about natural disasters.
Wow I am sure glad you have an X account! Otherwise I wouldn’t have known this was happening, such a good service to communicate during a disaster.
— Serene (@serenetemper)
So why is this account being ended?
— Eric (@PatriarchEric)
And yet u are ending your account here
— S.Hughes (@SHughes4343)
One of B.C.'s other social media accounts, EmergencyInfoBC, will continue to provide updates about provincial emergencies on X/Twitter.
The province also uses B.C. Emergency Alerts broadcast to mobile phones and on radio and TV stations when needed for urgent wildfire, flood, heat, and tsunami emergency information.
With files from Bob Makin and The Canadian Press
