A magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook southwestern Canada near Vancouver on Thursday.
The epicenter of the quake was around 130 miles from Tofino, a small district on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Ocean off Canada's west coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tofino is around 130 miles west of Vancouver. The quake's depth was around 6.2 miles.
A population of around 2,000 in Tofino would be exposed to light shaking, the Survey said.
The rumbling was first detected just after 8 am local time. Its magnitude was first estimated at 6.5 by the USGS, before it was downgraded to 6.4 minutes later.
Two more earthquakes shook the same area in the next few hours – a magnitude 5.4 temblor came about an hour after and another of magnitude 4.7 hit at around 10:30 local time,
An earthquake of a magnitude more than 6 is considered strong, and could cause damage to "poorly constructed buildings and other structures" up to around 62 miles away, according to the Canadian government.
Dara Goldberg, a research geophysicist for USGS, said "well over 100" magnitude 6 earthquakes are recorded annually.