6:30PM EDT October 28. 2012 - A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the west coast of Canada, triggering tsunami warnings for Hawaii, CTV News in Canada and other news organizations are reporting.

The quake was centered in the Haida Gwaii region in British Columbia but was felt as far inland in the metropolitan Vancouver area, according to CTV.

The quake triggered several aftershocks registering up to 5.8 on the Richter scale, according to CTV, although NBC News report aftershocks registering up to 6.4.

The quake spurred tsunami warnings along the coast of Hawaii, prompting coastal evacuations, but those warnings were later downgraded to advisories, NBC News reports.

The tsunami arrived around dawn ET Sunday, shortly after the earthquake hit, but was not as strong as officials had anticipated, NBC News reports.

The largest wave in the first 45 minutes of the tsunami was measured in Maui at 5 feet, NBC News quoted Gerard Fryer, senior geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, as saying.

The warnings triggered chaos in Hawaii, causing a crush of traffic in Oahu and prompting theaters to stop movie screenings mid-stream, NBC News reports.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio...i/1664313/