VANCOUVER, B.C. — A trio of strong earthquakes struck early Saturday off the British Columbia coast about 142 miles west of Port Hardy.
The first quake struck at 2:39 a.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3.
That was followed by a stronger tremor of 6.7 in the same region about 20 minutes later and then a third earthquake of magnitude 6.5.
Guy Urban from the Alaska and West Coast Tsunami Warning Center said the center sent out a tsunami information statement letting people know a large earthquake had occurred. But the center had received no reports of any quake injuries and no tsunami warning was issued.
The Tsunami Center issues warnings when earthquakes are larger than magnitude 7.
“We’re pretty much convinced that no tsunami has been generated,” Urban said. “We’re watching our tide gauges scattered around the Pacific Coast and we saw no tsunami anywhere on any of those.”
However, he said there might be some slight sea-level changes.
“Fortunately it was out in the water,” Urban said. “Had it been on land, it could have caused some significant damage.”
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