As the West Coast fretted over dwindling supplies and a highway closure blocking delivery trucks from coming in, an earthquake hit near Ucluelet.

乌鸦传媒淢y wife Barb felt a tremor through her whole body, and I felt a shake in the house that I thought was maybe somebody blasting or an explosion,乌鸦传媒� Ucluelet resident Lance Cole told the Westerly News.

The roughly 4.8 magnitude quake hit Ucluelet at 1:35 p.m. on Jan. 24, according to Earthquakes Canada.

READ MORE:

Eugene Stewart Jr. told the Westerly the shaking he felt was intense and all the pictures and window blinds in his Ty-Histanis home began vibrating.

乌鸦传媒淚 got up, looked outside, didn乌鸦传媒檛 see any big dump trucks going by, that was my first thought,乌鸦传媒� he said, adding he looked online and discovered it had, in fact, been an earthquake. 乌鸦传媒淚t said it was a 4.5 off Ucluelet and I was like, 乌鸦传媒楳an, that was intense for a 4.5.乌鸦传媒� I wonder what a bigger one is gonna be like.乌鸦传媒�

Ucluelet mayor Mayco Noel said he did not feel the quake, but received an immediate call from the district乌鸦传媒檚 Chief Administrative Officer Mark Boysen advising him it had occurred.

乌鸦传媒淭he first sentence that came out of both our lips when we talked, with the highway being down, was 乌鸦传媒楻eally? Is this happening?乌鸦传媒� We were already dealing with one situation that we seemed to be navigating through, so this was a second one,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭here was no tsunami report, so we were able to, with confidence, know that everything was fine.乌鸦传媒�

READ MORE:

He added that the Ucluelet Community Centre and connecting Children乌鸦传媒檚 Centre evacuated to high ground.

乌鸦传媒淭hey all hiked up to the BMX track immediately. There was a lot of people that felt it and rather than waiting for information, they just headed for high ground and that乌鸦传媒檚 the right thing to do; don乌鸦传媒檛 wait for information, get to high ground,乌鸦传媒� he said adding it was fortunately a sunny day at the time for kids to enjoy.

乌鸦传媒淭hey were all at the BMX track burning off some energy while the instructors were probably quite stressed out. Thankfully there was no aftermath.乌鸦传媒�

Ucluelet乌鸦传媒檚 fire chief Rick Geddes oversees the community乌鸦传媒檚 emergency management program and told the Westerly he also did not feel the quake, but he heard about it and hopes it reminds residents to be prepared.

乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e at quite a significant risk compared to other places in the world,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭he big thing is knowing what to do and having a grab and go kit ready, whether it乌鸦传媒檚 an earthquake or a tsunami, being prepared if we have an extended power outage as a result or the road is destroyed. Be prepared to be self sufficient for up to 72 hours.乌鸦传媒�

READ MORE:

Noel agreed.

乌鸦传媒淲e have to realize that we are always at risk of natural disasters or highway closures. When someone says, 乌鸦传媒楤e prepared for 72 hours,乌鸦传媒� that means exactly that: be prepared. I hope that out of the highway [closure] and that little teaser earthquake that people think about that,乌鸦传媒� he said.

乌鸦传媒淲hat are you going to do for your source of heat? What are you going to do for your groceries? What are you going to do with your neighbours? Are you looking after somebody elderly that you may know? Just really be community minded.乌鸦传媒�

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
Like us on and follow us on