Tsunami Downgraded After Waves Hit Hawaii

Residents in Hawaii are breathing a sigh of relief after the first waves of a tsunami were not as forceful as had been feared.

Hawaii governor Neil Abercrombie said the tsunami warning has now been downgraded to an advisory.

Hawaii was hit by one metre high waves - triggered by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Canada.

The quake happened at just after 8pm local about 96 miles (155km) south of Masset in the Haida Gwaii region, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Shortly after, television images from the island of Oahu, Hawaii, showed relatively small waves peacefully rolling toward the shore.

Small tsunami waves hit parts of Hawaii

An estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people who live in Hawaii's coastal zones had been urged to move to higher ground.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was followed by a 5.8 magnitude aftershock several minutes later.

Lenore Lawrence, a resident of Queen Charlotte City on the Haida Gwaii, said the quake was "definitely scary".

She said the shaking lasted more than a minute and that several things had fallen off her mantlepiece. 

Residents in parts of British Columbia were evacuated but the province seemed to escape the biggest quake in Canada since 1949 largely unscathed.

Lucy Jones, a USGS seismologist, said: "This isn't that big of an earthquake on tsunami scales. The really big tsunamis are usually up in the high 8s and 9s."

Tremors were felt across a wide area in British Columbia, both on its Pacific islands and on the mainland.

"It looks like the damage and the risk are at a very low level. We're certainly grateful," said Shirley Bond, British Columbia's minister responsible for emergency management.

Officials downgraded a tsunami warning to an advisory for southern Alaska and British Columbia. They also issued an advisory for areas of northern California and southern Oregon.

The first wave of the small tsunami, about four inches hit the southeast Alaska coastal community of Craig.

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