The islands were rattled by a magnitude 4.5 earthquake which occurred at 5:35 pm Friday (July 30) off the west coast of Moresby Island, about 100 km southwest of Sandspit.
No reports of damage have been received, but people who felt the quake described it as a sharp jolt.
"It was like a big bump," said Lea Olsen of Queen Charlotte. "It just went bang, I thought it was an explosion."
Bill Spicer, who lives on Tow Hill Road, said it was the mildest earthquake he has felt in 20 years here.
His wife noticed it first, and then he watched a glass of water on the table slosh slightly.
Many of his neighbours didn't feel the quake at all, he said.
In Sandspit, closer to the epicentre, Pat Smith said she felt a slight shaking and heard a rattling sound from where she was standing in her kitchen.
"It was pretty subtle," she said, adding that she has felt much stronger quakes both here and in California, where she has lived.