6.6-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Canada's West Coast, No Damage

6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes off Canada's west coast, no damage < br />

2012-10-30 10:59:34 GMT+7 (ICT)

VANCOUVER, B.C. (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck a largely unpopulated island off Canada's west coast on Monday evening, two days after a much larger earthquake triggered a small tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, seismologists said. No new tsunami alerts were issued.

The 6.2-magnitude earthquake at 7:49 p.m. local time (0249 GMT Tuesday) was centered just off Moresby Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands, or about 246 kilometers (152 miles) south-southwest of the Canadian port city of Prince Rupert. It struck about 9.7 kilometers (6 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) said the earthquake was felt on the Queen Charlotte Islands, which are also known as Haida Gwaii, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The USGS estimated some 5,000 people near the epicenter may have felt very light shaking, but said damage was unlikely.

Because earthquakes with a magnitude below 7 on the Richter scale do normally not generate tsunamis, neither the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center nor the Canadian government issued a tsunami warning. "An earthquake has occurred that is not expected to generate a tsunami," the center said in a bulletin.

On Saturday, a powerful and shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake was centered on Moresby Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands. The quake was felt across much of north-central BC, but only minor damage was reported. Tsunami alerts prompted more than 100,000 people to evacuate in B.C., Alaska and the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Saturday's earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in Canada. In November 2004, a strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off Vancouver Island, generating a small tsunami but causing no damage or casualties. The country's deadliest quake on record happened in 1774, when a powerful quake of unknown magnitude killed at least 300 people on the island of Newfoundland.

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