Quake season is coming soon to BC. We're entering what seismologists call the "slow slip" where the likelihood of "the Big one" hitting BC increases exponentially.
Every 14 months the zone which runs from Northern Vancouver Island down to northern California enters a state where thousands of mini tremors occur. According to Seismologist Alison Bird, the phenomenon happens when seismic stress shifts onto the fault area where the Juan de Fuca and North American plates lock together. This type of seismic stress can also lead to the "big one". "If that locked zone is close to critical, and you add more stress on to it ... that could trigger, the 'megathrust' earthquake."
This year's slip has already kicked off underneath Washington State and is expected to reach B.C. any day now.
There were not 1 but 2 minor earth quakes Wednesday night off the coast of Vancouver Island but seismologists say they are not related to this "slow slip" because they weren't in the right locations.
During the last slow slip, which began in late December 2015, around 8,000 mini-tremors were recorded.