Magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes 150 miles off Pacific coast

Seattle Times

Parts of Western Washington got a ShakeAlert notification Thursday morning after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck about 150 miles southwest of the Canadian town of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island.

The 6.4 magnitude earthquake at around 8 a.m. was followed an hour later by a 5.0 magnitude earthquake nearby.

Tsunamis are not expected, the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center posted on X.

ShakeAlert notification is triggered when an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 or higher strikes and if people in an area can feel at least weak shaking from it, the United States Geological Survey posted on X. Android users and those with MyShake phone application receive those notification.

Broader Wireless Emergency Alerts weren’t triggered because the shaking from the earthquakes were relatively minimal, USGS said.

Government agency Earthquakes Canada online said the offshore Vancouver Island is experiencing “a swarm of earthquakes.”

“A reminder that this is a seismically active area where three tectonic plates come together,” Washington Emergency Management Division posted on X. “It’s a very active area… It generates earthquakes all the time.”