Tsunami watch canceled in Hawaii after 8.1 New Zealand quake; no threat for California

A tsunami watch has been canceled for Hawaii after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand.

The earthquake, which struck Thursday at 11:28 a.m. Pacific time, was later deemed to not pose a tsunami threat for California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and British Columbia.

A tsunami watch had been ordered for the state of Hawaii at 12:24 p.m. Pacific time, and was canceled later in the afternoon.

A tsunami advisory was issued for American Samoa, about 1,100 miles from the epicenter, and the territory did experience a small tsunami of a couple of inches; the advisory was later canceled.

New Zealand authorities have downgraded its tsunami threat level, and canceled evacuation orders.

Prior to the magnitude 8.1 quake, there was a magnitude 7.4 quake in the same region at 9:41 a.m. Pacific time.

The epicenter of the magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred about 675 miles northeast of Auckland, nearly 4,000 miles southwest of Honolulu and about 6,000 miles away from Los Angeles.