Natural Resources Canada said the quake measured 4.3 while the U.S. Geological Survey placed the magnitude at 4.8. – levels the Canadian agency said would not be expected to cause any problems.

The quake was centred about 20 kilometres north of Victoria.

The Los Angeles city and county fire departments reported no immediate damage or injuries, although surveys of stations and personnel were ongoing.

She said the shaking appears to have been strongest, lasting up to 10 seconds in some cases, in the island’s south end.

Most earthquakes in the area have historically been grouped north and northwest of town, according to Michael Stickney, director of the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology’s Earthquake Studies Office.

Laura Kennedy says “Really felt it in View Royal”. Big subduction earthquakes, like the one that struck Japan in 2011, also occur in the Juan de Fuca plate.

There is a 5 percent chance that the quake, or any quake, is a precursor of something bigger, Jones said. Did the quake wake you up last night?

SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines were shut down for approximately an hour as a safety precaution to ensure the elevated guideways were not damaged by the tremors.

BC Hydro reports no impact to its transmission and distribution network after the shaking. USGS estimated 12 million people may have felt at least some weak shaking, and said 390,000 of those people may have experienced moderate shaking.

The quake followed another several hours earlier near San Bernardino, California, that measured 4.4. The aftershocks registered 3.8, 2.7 and 3.2 southwest of Devore, according to the USGS.

The epicenter of Tuesday’s quake was located just outside a previously implemented “cutback zone”, where disposal well operators were directed in July to reduce the amount of volume they inject, Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said.