An earthquake struck off the west side of Vancouver Island early Thursday morning, the second temblor to hit the area in less than a week.

However, the U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 4.0 quake was unlikely to do any damage and there are no reports of the earthquake being felt.

"This is likely an aftershock of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake of Friday, Sept. 9. There are no reports of damage, and none would be expected," said a statement from the USGS.

The quake struck at 4:02 a.m. ET, 91 kilometres west-southwest of Gold River, B.C. at a depth of 25 kilometres beneath the Earth's crust.

It was one of six quakes that struck between midnight and just after 4 a.m. along the Pacific Coast, from Baja, Mexico up to Alaska.

On Sept. 9, a more powerful magnitude 6.3 quake struck in the same location off Vancouver Island. That temblor was felt across southwest B.C. and Vancouver Island, in the city of Vancouver and as far away as Kelowna. It spawned more than 100 aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 4.9 down to as low as magnitude 1.

That quake was the most powerful to hit the area since Nov. 2, 2004 when a magnitude 6.6 quake occurred.