Strong earthquake off California prompts brief tsunami warning
No deaths or injuries were reported after the shallow magnitude 7 earthquake
A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7 hit off the coast of a sparsely populated area of northern California on Thursday, prompting coastal towns to evacuate low-lying areas amid a tsunami warning that was later canceled.
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 National Weather Service said that the tsunami warning that extended along 800km (500 miles) of the California and Oregon coasts was called off about 90 minutes after the earthquake struck at 10.44am Pacific Time (1.44pm ET).
The quake, which hit at a shallow depth of 10km (6.2 miles), was centered about 63 km west of the town of Ferndale, a sparsely populated portion of the northern California coast, the US 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.
