Tsunami warning downgraded after powerful quake strikes off the coast of B.C.
Posted October 29, 2012 6:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As the East Coast of the United States braces for Hurricane Sandy, thousands of people along the west coast and in Hawaii are dealing with another type of disaster.
A tsunami warning, now downgraded to an advisory, was triggered Saturday night after an earthquake struck along British Columbia’s north-central coast.
Tsunami warnings, most of which have now ended, were also issued from Vancouver Island down to the Oregon Coast.
Many of the waves have already come ashore, although officials warn it could be hours before the rough waters completely pass.
Four major waves have already struck Hawaii, with officials saying they were, luckily, not as big as expected. Little to no damage has been reported.
Regardless, the mayor of Honolulu told CNN they are not taking any chances.
“You can’t really tell which wave is going to be packing the most punch, sometimes it’s the second or third, and sometimes it’s the very last one. It’s sort of a trainwreck coming through slowly and surely, and you have to be sure the very worst is by you,” he said.
The manager of the Pacific Inn in Prince Rupert B.C. says the earthquake was extremely powerful.
“It was very scary, I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never felt that,” she said.
There were at least 23 aftershocks measuring 4.1 or greater since the 7.7-magnitude quake, which is the strongest to hit in Canada in more than 60 years.
