US quake sparks tsunami alert

2005-06-15 07:14

Crescent City - A major earthquake struck about 130 kilometres off the coast of northern California on Tuesday night, briefly prompting a tsunami warning along the Pacific coast.

The 7.0-magnitude quake struck at about 23:50 GMT southwest of the coastal community of Crescent City and 480 kilometres northwest of San Francisco, according to the US Geological Survey website.

Witnesses felt buildings shaking along the California coast but there were no immediate reports of damage.

A tsunami warning was briefly in effect from the California-Mexico border north to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, but was called off about an hour after the quake hit.

"The tsunami warning and watch status is cancelled for California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia (Canada) and Alaska," the West Coast Tsunami Warning Centre said in a statement.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration runs the warning system, which includes 25 other countries with Pacific coastlines.

Crescent City was the site of the only known tsunami to cause deaths in the continental United States. Eleven people died and 29 city blocks were washed away when a tsunami spawned by a quake hit Crescent City in 1964.

A major earthqake off the southern shore of Indonedia on December 26 triggered tsunamis that killed about 217 000 people in 11 countries.

- AP