Four earthquakes, the strongest registering 6.9 magnitude, struck the Gulf of California off Mexico's west coast Monday, according to multiple monitoring services, with no reports of damage.
The series of quakes began with a 5.8-magnitude tremor at 10:55 am local time (1755 GMT), followed by one registering a magnitude of 6.9 five minutes later.
Two more tremors, measuring 5.0 and 5.9 magnitude, followed within an hour, according to reports by the US Geological Survey (USGS), Mexico's National Seismological Center and the US Tsunami Warning Center.
The USGS said the epicenter of the strongest quake was 76 miles (122 kilometers) north-northeast of Santa Isabel in Baja California, Mexico, and had a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
The Gulf of California is a small strip of ocean in between the Baja California peninsula and Sonora state.
Much of Baja California, Mexico's northernmost and western-most state, is sparsely populated. No damage was reported there or in Sonora state, on the other side of the Gulf of California.
The quakes were not felt in Sonora state's capital Hermosillo, an AFP journalist reported, though local media reported the tremors were felt across the border in San Diego, California, where they prompted the evacuation of a downtown office building.
There appeared to be no imminent threat of tidal waves from the quakes, USGS said, although individual governments were advised to make their own decisions on whether to issue a tsunami warning.
"Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a few hundred kilometers of the earthquake epicenter," it added.
"Authorities in the region of the epicenter should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action."
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Four powerful earthquakes strike near Mexico coast
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