World
USGS issues 6.5 magnitude quake alert, removes bulletin shortly after
Ottawa: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that a significant earthquake measuring 6.5 has struck western Canada near Queen Charlotte Sound, but shortly after removed the event from its records.
As per preliminary data, the earthquake’s center of gravity was located at a depth of 15 km in the western part of the province of British Columbia.
The bulletin stated that there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
However, after a while, the USGS removed the event from its records.
Reportedly, the warning was erroneously generated by an automated system which was quickly confirmed as false and removed manually.
The reason for the non-confirmation of the earthquake could possibly be a malfunction of the monitoring equipment.
Following the rare episode, many users initially expressed their confusion over the disappearance of the alert from the service’s website and asked residents of British Columbia if there were really any tremors.
The last earthquake reported by the Canadian government was on August 13 that was about 6 km from the city of Victoria with a magnitude of 2.0.