Magnitude 5.7 earthquake shakes B.C. offshore area

An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 struck off the southwest coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C., on Wednesday afternoon but there were no reports of major structural damage and notsunami is expected.

The quake occurred at around 3:40 p.m., said Allison Bird, an earthquake seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, and was strong enough to be feltby residents in southern Queen Charlotte Islands and as far inland as Kitimat and Terrace.

B.C. gets an earthquake of this magnitude about once a year, she said. Minor aftershocks can be expected but they'll be in the offshore area, she added.

"People are mostly talking about furniture sliding a little bit… there's only slight movement generally speaking," Birdtold CBC News.

Bird said there's no risk of a tsunami, whichis usually caused by a large vertical motion of the ocean floor. This earthquake appeared to have been caused by a sideways motion.

If a quake of magnitude 5.7 happened in downtown Vancouver, Bird said there would likely be shattered windows and pictures falling off the walls, but still be no major structural damage.