By Jeremy Hainsworth
The Associated Press
BULLETIN: A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck just before noon today in the same general area of last night’s 7.7 quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that today’s temblor struck off Haida Gwaii to the south of the epicenter of the earlier big quake.
Earlier report:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the west coast of Canada between Vancouver Island and Alaska, but there were no reports of major damage.
Residents in parts of British Columbia were evacuated, but the province appeared to escape the biggest quake in Canada since 1949 largely unscathed.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the powerful temblor hit the Queen Charlotte Islands — now known as Haida Gwaii — just after 8 p.m. local time Saturday at a depth of about 3 miles and was centered 96 miles south of Masset, British Columbia.
It was felt across a wide area in British Columbia, both on its Pacific islands and on the mainland.
“It looks like the damage and the risk are at a very low level,” said Shirley Bond, British Columbia’s minister responsible for emergency management said. “We’re certainly grateful.”
The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas of British Columbia, southern Alaska and Hawaii, but later canceled it for the first two and downgraded it to an advisory for Hawaii.
Gerard Fryer, a senior geologist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said the first waves hitting shore in Hawaii were smaller than expected.
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said early today that the Aloha State was lucky to avoid more severe surges after the powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Canada. Abercrombie said beaches and harbors are still closed statewide.
“We’re very, very grateful that we can go home tonight counting our blessings,” Abercrombie said.
The weather service also canceled a tsunami advisory for Oregon, leaving Northern California as the only spot in North America still under a tsunami advisory.
Dennis Sinnott of the Canadian Institute of Ocean Science said a 27-inch wave was recorded off Langara Island on the northeast tip of Haida Gwaii.
The islands are home to about 5,000 people, many of them members of the Haida aboriginal group.
A 21-inch wave hit Winter Harbour on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
“It appears to be settling down,” he said. “It does not mean we won’t get another small wave coming through.”
Canada’s largest earthquake since 1700 was an 8.1 magnitude quake on Aug. 22, 1949, off the coast of British Columbia, according to the Canadian government’s Natural Resources website.
It occurred on the Queen Charlotte fault in what the department called Canada’s equivalent of the San Andreas fault — the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates that runs underwater along the west coast of Haida Gwaii.
In 1970, a 7.4 magnitude quake struck south of Haida Gwaii.
The USGS said the temblor shook the waters around British Columbia and was followed by a 5.8 magnitude aftershock after several minutes. Several other aftershocks were reported.
The quake struck 25 miles south of Sandspit, British Columbia, on the Haida Gwaii archipelago. People in coastal areas were advised to move to higher ground.
Urs Thomas, operator of the Golden Spruce hotel in Port Clements said there was no warning before everything began moving inside and outside the hotel. He said it lasted about three minutes.
“It was a pretty good shock,” Thomas, 59, said. “I looked at my boat outside. It was rocking. Everything was moving. My truck was moving.”
After the initial jolt, Thomas began to check the hotel.
“The fixtures and everything were still swinging,” he said. “I had some picture frames coming down.”
Lenore Lawrence, a resident of Queen Charlotte City on Haida Gwaii, said the quake was “definitely scary,” adding 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.
Many on the B.C. mainland said the same.
“I was sitting at my desk on my computer and everything just started to move. It was maybe 20 seconds,” said Joan Girbav, manager of Pacific Inn in Prince Rupert.
“It’s very scary. I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never felt that.”
Residents rushed out of their homes in Tofino on Vancouver Island when the tsunami sirens sounded, but they were allowed to return about two hours after the quake.
In Hawaii, the tsunami warning spurred residents to stock up on essentials at gas stations and grocery stores and sent tourists in beachside hotels to higher floors in their buildings.
Bus service into Waikiki was cut off an hour before the first waves, and police in downtown Honolulu shut down a Halloween block party.
In Kauai, three schools used as evacuation centers quickly filled to capacity.
Fryer said the largest wave in the first 45 minutes of the tsunami was measured in Maui at more than 5 feet, about 2 feet higher than normal sea levels. No major damage was reported.
In Alaska, the wave or surge was recorded at 4 inches, much smaller than forecast, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The quake was felt in Craig and other southeast Alaska communities, but Zidek said there were no immediate reports of damage.
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Associated Press writers Oskar Garcia in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
