Some residents in southwestern British Columbia are sounding the alarm after reports of sporadic and inconsistent alerts from the national early warning system during the 4.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday.

Complaints first surfaced on social media after the quake centred 24 kilometres north-northeast of Sechelt, B.C., on the Sunshine Coast struck Friday afternoon, with several residents saying they didn鈥檛 receive an alert from the Earthquake Early Warning system.

Among them was Campbell River, B.C., teacher and first aid attendant Nat Raedwulf Pogue, who was at her workplace at a local school when the quake struck and only received confirmation of the earthquake after a colleague actively searched for information online.

鈥淚t was enough where my desk was shaking, my walls were shaking,鈥� Raedwulf Pogue said of the severity of the shaking. 鈥淚 came into contact with maybe five or six colleagues immediately afterwards, and none of them had confirmation an earthquake had happened.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know of anyone in my immediate vicinity who got an alert.鈥�

Other reports on social media platforms such as X and Facebook showed people receiving alerts 15 to 22 minutes after the shaking, while others reported receiving no warning at all where 鈥� in some cases 鈥� spouses in the same household did receive the alert.

Natural Resources Canada seismologist Alison Bird said Saturday that the alerts sent from the ministry鈥檚 Earthquake Early Warning system 鈥渁re being evaluated.鈥�

But she noted that the timing of when people would receive a warning depends on both their distance from the earthquake and how they receive the alerts.

Bird said the alerts on Friday were only issued in an area around the quake鈥檚 epicentre 鈥� located on the Sunshine Coast 鈥� where 鈥渟trong shaking鈥� was expected, but some people outside the zone may have also received those warnings.

鈥淪ome people outside the area for EEW alerting may have received the alert because their device was able to receive a signal from a cell tower that is within the EEW area,鈥� Bird said in a written response. 鈥淓veryone within the area of strong shaking 鈥� should have received the alert, however.鈥�

Bird also said there may be confusion over the federally sent alerts specific to earthquakes and the provincial system 鈥� which notifies residents of 鈥渟ignificant events鈥� that may also include wildfires and other disasters.

B.C. legislative assembly member Brennan Day said he was in Courtenay, B.C., on Vancouver Island on Friday, and he did not know there was an earthquake until he received a text from his father in nearby Dove Creek who felt the shaking but got no warning.

鈥淢y wife was at a client鈥檚 house 鈥� and we鈥檙e on the same (mobile service) plan 鈥� she got an alert about two or three seconds before the earthquake actually started, which is fantastic,鈥� Day said. 鈥淏ut I was 10 kilometres away didn鈥檛 get an alert.

鈥淎 lot of people I know in the (Comox) Valley 鈥� are now commenting it鈥檚 completely hit-or-miss, whether they got an alert or not. So I think there鈥檚 some a serious look that needs to be taken at the emergency alert system, because if it鈥檚 done geographically, everybody on certain cellphone towers should have gotten that alert, and that just didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�

Day, a B.C. Conservative member representing Courtenay-Comox in the provincial legislature, said the region was lucky the warning system 鈥済ot a trial run鈥� before a larger earthquake struck, but added the sporadic warnings were 鈥渁bsolutely a huge concern.鈥�

鈥淎t the end of the day, if we have a massive earthquake, it鈥檚 going to be the matter of life and death whether we can respond 鈥� get under a table, get yourself to a safer position 鈥� in advance,鈥� he said.

鈥�(The province) has an emergency preparedness plan, but it needs to work 鈥� seconds matter.鈥�

Friday鈥檚 earthquake has been followed by a number of aftershocks between 1.0 and 2.0 in strength, and there has been no report of damage from the quake that occurred at 1:26 p.m. local time at a depth of about one kilometre.

Raedwulf Pogue, a learning support teacher who works with students with disabilities, said it is especially critical for warning systems to function properly in cases similar to hers, since some have already expressed uneasiness after the shaking Friday.

鈥淚 did have a few students who were quite anxious about what happened and just needed confirmation 鈥� that yes, it happened, because they really weren鈥檛 sure 鈥� and also that they were OK,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e have students with mobility disability, so we would actually need more time to get them into a safe location. And we have students with developmental disabilities where even if their mobility isn鈥檛 impacted by their disability, they would need more assurance and more heads-up about what鈥檚 happening.

鈥淭he more time we have to provide them with what they need to move to a safer spot would prevent, hopefully, injury and limit the danger.鈥�

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2025.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press