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Magnitude 5.0 earthquake recorded off B.C.’s west coast

Earthquakes Canada said no surge or tsunami was expected to reach shores after a small earthquake rattled the ocean off northwestern Vancouver Island early Friday morning.

Earthquakes Canada and the U.S. Geological Survey recorded the temblor at a magnitude of 5.0 when it hit, at 5:57 a.m. PT Friday morning under the Pacific Ocean, about 170 to 185 kilometres west of Port Hardy, B.C.

The U.S. West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said the quake was not strong enough to generate a dangerous wave.

The shaker occurred in a region where earthquakes are common because of the movement of several plates of the earth’s crust.

Natural Resources Canada says more than 100 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or stronger have occurred off British Columbia in the last 70 years, including the magnitude 7.7 quake, the second strongest ever recorded in Canada, that jolted the west coast of Haida Gwaii last October.

After three hours, neither the USGS nor Earthquakes Canada’s online “felt” maps showed any reports from Friday morning’s quake.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/07/26/bc-earthquake-ocean-vancouver-island.html