Magnitude-4.6 earthquake hits Seattle area, felt in B.C.

A minorearthquake that struck outside Seattle in the middle of the night has reportedly been felt as far north as the Vancouver area.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) saidthe quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 4.6, struck just before 3 a.m. PT in the area of Three Lakes, Wash., about 40 kilometres northeast of Seattle.

An interactive map on the USGS website showedseveral dozen people in the Vancouver area reported feeling the shaking.

The quake was followed a couple of minutes later by an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 3.5, according to USGS. Seattle residents said they were woken by the shaking.

There are no reports of injuries and there was no tsunami.

The emergency management division of the Washington Military Department said more than 6,500 people responded to the earthquake online.

Last week, threeearthquakesregistering between 4.5and 5.6 magnitude were detected off the coast of B.C. The tremors were classified as aftershocks to a magnitude 6.2 earthquake on July 3.

Southern California and parts of Nevadaexperienced a 6.4 magnitude earthquakeon July 4. It was the most powerful quake to hit the state in 20 years, triggering dozens of aftershocks in following days.

Paul Caruso, a geophysicist and duty seismologist with the USGS, said the quakes off the Canadian coast were not linked to thosein California.