Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Three large earthquakes were recorded near Vancouver Island off the British Columbia coast late Sunday night by the U.S. Geological Survey, but it did not set off any tsunami warnings.
The earthquakes happened over a one-hour period, the USGS stated. The first earthquake, recorded as a magnitude 6.5, happened at 10:39 p.m. about 118 miles southwest of Port Hardy.
The second happened near the same area, at a magnitude 6.8, and the third at magnitude 6.5, according to the survey.
Three smaller earthquakes were recorded in the vicinity after midnight, at magnitudes 4.9, 4.3 and 4.5, respectively.
"If anyone of these quakes had hit closer to land, there would have been devastating consequences," CBC meteorologist and seismologist Johanna Wagstaffe said. "Three large ones in a row does seem unusual and I'm sure scientists will be learning as much as they can over the next couple of days about the change in stresses just off our coast."
CBC News reported that there was no immediate information of casualties or damage connected with the earthquakes.
Seismologist Alison Bird said in June experts were concerned then about increased seismic activity British Columbia, Washington state and the Northern California coastlines that could have been the sign of something bigger on the way.
"What it means is that we're in a period that the probability of that earthquake happening is higher so it's statistically more likely to happen during one of these episodes," Bird told Global News Radio.
In January, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in the Gulf of Alaska, 175 miles southeast Kodiak City, Alaska, according to the Natural Resources Canada website.