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Earthquakes hit Canadian coast
05/01/2008 22:22 - (SA)
Washington - Two strong earthquakes both registering 6.5 on the Moment Magnitude scale struck the western coast of Canada early on Saturday, with no reports of casualties or damage, US and Canadian seismological sites reported.
The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the first strong tremor, which occurred at 03:01 local time (1101 GMT), was located 235 kilometres west-northwest of Port Hardy, British Colombia.
The second quake was felt 44 minutes later at the same site, the USGS said.
The readings are based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, now used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.
"A strong earthquake has occurred, but a tsunami is not expected along the California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, or Alaska coast.
"No tsunami warning or watch is in effect for these areas," read a statement from the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre.
The site however added that some of those areas "may experience non-damaging sea level changes," and at coastal locations "which have experienced strong ground shaking, local tsunamis are possible due to underwater landslides."
- AFP
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