Offshore earthquakes raise the potential for tsunamis to occur, and two sizeable quakes hit this morning in the waters west of British Columbia and south of Alaska.

The first quake occurred near the Aleutian Islands in Alaska at 8:22 a.m.

It was a 6.4-magnitude quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

At a depth of 39 kilometres (24 miles), the epicentre was 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Nikolski, Alaska; and 1440 kilometres (893 miles) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.

A tsunami warning wasn’t issued for this quake.

However, the Alaska Earthquake Centre reported this seismic event as felt in Nikolski, Unalaska, and Akutan in Alaska.

Only a few moments later, another quake struck south of the Gulf of Alaska and west of the B.C. coastline.

This one hit at 8:35 a.m. (B.C. time).

The U.S. Geological Survey measured it as a 5.7-magnitude quake.

The epicentre, at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), was located 427 kilometres (265 miles) southeast of Old Harbor, Alaska; 834 km (520 miles) south of Anchorage, Alaska; and 1128 kilometres (700 miles) southwest of Juneau, Alaska.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning Centre issued a statement that there wasn’t a tsunami threat from this seismic activity.