Earthquake shakes British Columbia; no injuries reported

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 rattled the coast of British Columbia's Vancouver Island on Wednesday evening and was felt by hundreds of people in dozens of cities in Canada and the United States, the US Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was in effect, the National Tsunami Warning Center said.

The quake, at a depth of 7.1 miles (11.4 kms), struck at 8:10 p.m. local time (0310 GMT). It was 58.4 miles (94 kms) south of Port Hardy, Canada, which is about 300 miles (483 kms) northwest of Seattle.

The US Geological Survey said nearly 800 people reported feeling the quake in dozens of cities, including Vancouver and Seattle. It was followed by aftershocks with magnitudes of 5.0 and 4.2.