Tsunami alert for Hawaii after quake off western Canada
Big shake brings scares, evacuations and alerts as far away as Hawaii but no major damage
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck off the west coast of Canada, with residents in parts of British Columbia evacuated, but the province appeared to escape the biggest quake in Canada since 1949 largely unscathed, with no reports of major damage.
A tsunami alert triggered by the quake set off alarms in Hawaii, with authorities forcing a state-wide evacuation.
The US Geological Survey said the powerful quake hit the Queen Charlotte Islands just after 8pm local time on Saturday at a depth of about five kilometres and was centred 155 kilometres south of Masset, British Columbia.
The USGS said the quake shook the waters around British Columbia and was followed after several minutes by a 5.8-magnitude aftershock. Several other aftershocks were reported.
The governor of Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie, said that the islands were lucky to avoid more severe surges after the earthquake struck. Abercrombie said beaches and harbours were still closed across Hawaii.
Lenore Lawrence, a resident of Queen Charlotte City on the Haida Gwaii, off the coast of British Columbia, said the quake was "definitely scary", and she wondered if "this could be the big one". She said the shaking lasted more than a minute. While several things fell off her mantle and broke, she said damage in her home was minimal.