Tsunami warning cancelled after quake off northern California coast, no threat to B.C.
Some 4.7 million California, Oregon residents were under warning before it was called off
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit off a sparsely populated stretch of northern California coast on Thursday, prompting coastal towns to evacuate low-lying areas amid a tsunami warning that was later cancelled.
Emergency Info B.C. says there is "no tsunami threat to B.C."
No deaths or injuries were reported. There were no reports of major damage, though authorities said they needed time to check across the impacted area.
The U.S. National Weather Service said that the tsunami warning that extended along 800 kilometres of the California and Oregon coasts was called off about 90 minutes after the earthquake struck at 10:44 a.m. PT (1:44 p.m. ET).
Quake leaves mess, but no reports of injuries
The quake, which hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres, was centred about 63 kilometres west of the town of Ferndale, Calif., a sparsely populated portion of the state's northern coast, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
In Ferndale, a town of about 1,400 people, residents and business owners were cleaning up broken crockery and merchandise after the quake struck.
"It was a big quake, it made you evacuate the building as fast as you could," said Troy Land, a member of Ferndale's Volunteer Fire Department, who also owns a hardware store and said lumber and cans of paint went tumbling across the shop's floor.
"It was a strong quake, our building shook, we're fine but I have a mess to clean up right now," said a still shaken Julie Kreitzer, owner of Golden Gait Mercantile, a store packed with food, wares and souvenirs that is a popular attraction in Ferndale.
Some 4.7 million residents of California and Oregon had been under the tsunami warning before it was cancelled, the weather service said.
Earthquake a 'reminder' for B.C.: seismologist
John Cassidy, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said the quake offered an "important reminder" for everyone living along the Pacific coast from California to B.C. about the potential for a damaging quake and tsunami to hit the region and the importance of being prepared for when a more damaging earthquake does happen.
"The same types of earthquakes have happened here in the past and will again in the future," he said in an interview with CBC All Points West guest host Kathryn Marlow.
He said a magnitude 7.0 earthquake is relatively rare, with an average of 15 to 20 of that size being recorded worldwide every year.
Cassidy said the Pacific northwest avoided major damage and tsunamis because the quake was not a "subduction earthquake," which occurs when tectonic plates collide and slide under each other.
Instead, he said, the quake caused "horizontal slipping," which "typically doesn't generate large tsunamis, which is a good thing."
He also noted that a magnitude 7.0 earthquake is at the "lower threshold" of those that might cause a Pacific-wide tsunami.
He did, however, say aftershocks could be expected for the next several days and that researchers would be closely analyzing both the earthquake and its aftermath to help prepare for future events.
California offering help to impacted areas
Just north of Ferndale in Eureka, a coastal community in Humboldt County, fire department official Talia Flores said there were no injuries or major structural damage reported, though some stores lost merchandise off the shelves.
The City of Berkeley police department had issued an evacuation order for parts of the city on the San Francisco Bay, but later sent an alert to residents saying that "no tsunami danger presently exists."
In northern California, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office downgraded its evacuation warning for a tsunami to "situational awareness" in low lying areas.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was concerned about damage in northern California, and that he had signed a state of emergency declaration that would facilitate assistance for the impacted areas.
With files from The Associated Press and CBC News