BC-MEXICO – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocked the Gulf of California, between Mexico’s Baja California Sur and Sonora states, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The temblor struck at about 1:32 a.m. local time today, 89 kilometers (56 miles) north-northeast of Santa Rosalia in Baja California Sur, and 101 km southwest of La Doce, Sonora, the survey group said in a preliminary report on its Web site. There was no immediate news of any damage.
No “destructive Pacific-wide” threat of a tsunami exists as a result of the quake, though local tsunamis are possible, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in an e-mailed advisory. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said that no watch or warning was in place in Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon and California, though “small sea-level changes” are possible.
“Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometers of the earthquake epicenter,” the Pacific center said. “Authorities in the region of the epicenter should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action.” The earthquake struck at a depth of about 10 km. The Pacific and West Coast centers put the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.0 and 6.9 respectively. Earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above are listed as “major,” and those between magnitudes 6 and 6.9 are “strong.” The Dec. 26, 2004 earthquake that generated the tsunami that devastated coastal areas across the Indian Ocean was magnitude 9, a “great” earthquake.
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