1946 Vancouver Island earthquake

Canadian natural disaster May 2025 February 2025 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake Canada British Columbia 1946-06-23 17:13:24 10:15 a.m. 898434 iscgem898434 June 23, 1946 7.0 s yob 898434 7.5 w yCanada 1946 15 km on 49.62 N 125.26 Wob 898434 cs2 Canada United States Limited 8 2 The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake struck Vancouver Island on the coast of British Columbia, Canada, on June 23 at 10:15 a.m. with a magnitude estimated at 7.0 s yob 898434 and 7.5 w y.Canada 1946 iscgem898434 cs2 The main shock epicenter occurred in the Forbidden Plateau area northwest of Courtenay. While most of the large earthquakes in the Vancouver area occur at tectonic plate boundaries, the 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake was a crustal event. Shaking was felt from Portland, Oregon, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. This is one of the most damaging earthquakes in the history of British Columbia, but damage was restricted because there were no heavily populated areas near the epicentre, where severe shaking occurred. This earthquake is Canada's largest historic onshore earthquake.The M7.3 Vancouver Island Earthquake of 1946 http://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic_eq/20th/1946/1946_e.php earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca Natural Resources Canada - Earth Sciences Sector - Earthquakes Canada 2008-06-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20060418172000/http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic_eq/20th/1946/1946_e.php 2006-04-18 2006-02-16 dead However, the greatest earthquake in Canadian history recorded by seismometers was the 1949 Queen Charlotte earthquake, an interplate earthquake that occurred on the ocean bottom just off the rugged coast of Graham Island, which reached magnitude 8.1 on the moment magnitude scale.The Magnitude 8.1 Queen Charlotte Island Earthquake of August 22, 1949 https://web.archive.org/web/20080527170706/http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic_eq/20th/1949_e.php 2008-05-27 Retrieved on 2008-06-11 Background and tectonics The tectonics that caused the 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake are poorly known. No surface expression of the offset was noticed, most likely because the epicenter area was very remote and densely forested. A comprehensive examination and computer interpretation of seismic data from over 50 stations have shown that a possible explanation of the earthquake includes a strike-slip fault corresponding to the lengthy axis of Vancouver Island, known as the Beaufort Range Fault.http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/5/1487 Geodetic deformation associated with the 1946 Vancouver Island, Canada, earthquake Bulletin of the Seismology Association of America October 1979 5 69 1487–1496 W. F. Slawson J. C. Savage 7 January 2009 A fault running across Vancouver Island, corresponding to the projection of the underwater Nootka Fault on the British Columbia Coast, is also a possibility but an unlikely one because the earthquake showed no evidence of offsets along with a series of highways that follows much of the eastern coastline of Vancouver Island, called Island Highway, and other roads between Courtenay and Campbell River.June 2018 The estimated depth of the earthquake places it within the continental crust, not at the margin with the Cascadia subduction zone, and certainly not inside the subduction zone itself. Specifically, the earthquake's epicenter was positioned somewhere in the Forbidden Plateau region, in central Vancouver Island.June 2018 Damage and casualties thumb|House failure in Comox Though very destructive, the earthquake caused only two deaths: Jacob L. Kingston, aged 69, and Daniel Fidler, who was 50. Kingston suffered a heart attack in Seattle,June 24, 1946 2 Dead in Pacific N.W. Quake 1 The Bellingham Herald Associated Press https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94472257/2-dead-in-pacific-nw-quake/ Newspapers.com February 7, 2022 while Fidler drowned when his dinghy was swamped by a wave. In Vancouver, damage consisted of lofty buildings oscillating violently, and a piece of masonry fell from the local railway station. In addition, within the city, at least one gas line cracked and several power outages occurred. Fires broke out in several chimneys, and at least one swing-span bridge was fractured by the shaking. In the Hotel Vancouver, which housed the elderly and caught on fire, more than 500 war veterans' families fled the flames. One writer, George Finley, stated that the Lions Gate Bridge "swayed like a leaf", coinciding with a "low, rumbling sound, like a deep growl".https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RE0KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8UoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4967,2345608&dq=1946+vancouver+island+earthquake Damage Considerable in Coastal Area of Sunday Quake Ellensburg Daily Record June 24, 1946 January 6, 2009 thumb|Damage to Bank of Montreal in Port Alberni. The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake demolished 75% of the chimneys in the communities of Cumberland, Union Bay, and Courtenay and caused extensive damage in Comox, Port Alberni, and Powell River, on the eastern side of the Strait of Georgia. Some chimneys were fractured in Victoria, and people in Victoria and Vancouver experienced great fright, with some seen fleeing into the streets. Landslides created by the earthquake were common throughout Vancouver Island. M Gunn Angus Encyclopedia of Disasters Greenwood Press 2008 Westport, Connecticut 399 https://books.google.com/books?id=4YzF-DT__aIC&pg=RA1-PA399 978-0-313-34002-4 31 July 2010 Land subsidence resulted from the earthquake, most commonly around shorelines on the Strait of Georgia. This included the bottom of Deep Bay which sank between 2.7 m ft 0 on and 25.6 m ft 0 on. These measurements were reported by the Canadian Hydrographic Service. Also, a 3 m on ground shift occurred on Read Island. Ships throughout the region were affected, and those on board them during the earthquake described it as similar to having run over a sand bar or striking a rock. Undersea power lines were destroyed in the long narrow Alberni Inlet and near the city of Powell River. All lighthouse keepers in the surrounding area felt the earthquake, and experienced damage including shattered windows and smashed dishes. A tsunami struck the west coast of Texada Island with two waves, the first being 2 m high and the second 1 m high. The earthquake caused a landslide near Mount Colonel Foster. One fortunate occurrence allowed researchers afterward to review the effects of the earthquake: an aerial photographic survey of Vancouver Island had commenced in 1946, soon after the earthquake, and these photographs were eventually studied by a geoscientist in the late 1970s. South of the Canada–United States border in Washington state, some chimneys fell at Eastsound on Orcas Island and a concrete mill was damaged at Port Angeles. Washington: Earthquake History United States Geological Survey 2008-07-16 https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/washington/history.php 2009-01-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20090109120707/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/washington/history.php 9 January 2009 live In Seattle, some damage occurred on upper floors of tall buildings that had visibly swayed. The expansion joints on a bridge on U.S. Highway 10 near Mercer Island were also damaged by the earthquake.June 24, 1946 Quake Rocks Seattle, Wide N.W. Area; Heavy Damage in B.C. 1 Seattle Post-Intelligencer The shock was strongly felt at Bellingham, Everett, Olympia, Raymond, and Tacoma.June 24, 1946 Sharp Earthquake Wrenches Coastal Pacific Northwest 1 The Spokesman-Review Associated Press https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94472818/sharp-earthquake-wrenches-coastal/ Newspapers.com February 7, 2022 A 20 ft m mid flip -wide, 80 ft m mid flip -long crack in the glacier covering Big Four Mountain in Snohomish County, Washington, was created by the earthquake. The earthquake was powerful enough to knock the needle off a seismograph at the University of Washington and was sustained for about a minute even in Seattle.June 24, 1946 Big 4 Glacier Split By Tremblor; Quakes' Increase Cause Sought 1, 3 The Seattle Times The earthquake caused significant movement among structures, moving one 300 ft on flip wall about 35 ft flip and caused one home to shift for 5 ft flip off its foundation. The total affected area in Canada and the United States was about 260000 km2 mi2 on. See also 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 List of earthquakes in 1946 List of earthquakes in Canada List of earthquakes in the United States References 30em Significant Earthquake Database https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/form?t=101650&s=1&d=1 https://web.archive.org/web/20060929000601/http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/form?t=101650&s=1&d=1 dead September 29, 2006 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA 10.7289/V5TD9V7K 1972 Data Set External links 898434 Category:1946 in Canada Category:1946 natural disasters in the United States 1946 Vancouver Category:1946 earthquakes Category:June 1946 in Canada Category:History of Vancouver Island 1946 Vancouver Category:Alberni Valley Category:1946 in British Columbia Category:1946 in Washington (state) Category:1946 disasters in Canada