Tsunami Warnings Lifted After Powerful Earthquake Hits Alaska

A large earthquake had hit the Alaskan peninsula late Wednesday night, prompting tsunami warnings for parts of southern Alaska coastline. However, it was lifted hours later after the 8.2 magnitude quake.

As the earthquake generated numerous aftershocks, including a preliminary magnitude 6.2 and magnitude 5.6 so far, and some small ocean waves, the region remains under advisory. In the meantime, no serious injuries or damages were reported.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake hit 56 miles east-southeast of the tiny town of Perryville, Alaska's biggest city some 500 miles southwest of Anchorage, at 10:15 p.m. local time at a depth of about 21 miles, which was considered shallow.

Authorities confirm no threats

(Photo : Photo by Todd Turner on Unsplash)

There are currently no warnings issued for Anchorage. Meanwhile, a tsunami watch issued for Hawaii was also later cancelled, including evacuation reports in some communities in the tsunami warning areas like Kodiak and Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. "Based on all available data there is no tsunami threat," the National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Residents in Kodiak, the largest town on the island of Kodiak, were advised by police to move to high ground after the quake and opening high schools as an evacuation location. As the alerts changed from warnings to advisories, the Kodiak Police Department said in a message, "Kodiak has been downgraded to Tsunami Advisory status however we are not all clear."

Kodiak is near the northwestern tip of Kodiak Island, the largest island in Alaska and is the second-largest island in the US.

Also read: More Than 100 Aftershocks Rattle Sierra Nevada After Strong 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake

Officials say that the Alaskan coast earthquake was the strongest one in decades

"This event was felt throughout the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak," the Alaska Earthquake Center tweeted.

"This is the largest earthquake to happen in the Alaska region since 1965," Michael West, state seismologist with the center, told Alaska Public Media.

"We are now all clear and anxiously awaited for any announcement about a wave hitting our island," Kodiak Mayor Pat Branson told CNN in an email several hours before the tsunami warning has been lifted. "The Emergency Operations Council was up and working monitoring and informing the public of any updates. Citizens did evacuate."

"This was the strongest earthquake since 1964 and our 3rd evacuation in 18 months. But we are all good and grateful now."

"A tsunami was generated by this event, but no longer poses a threat," said the National Tsunami Warning Center after canceling warnings on portions of the state like coastal areas of South Alaska, the Alaska Peninsula, and Aleutian Islands.

Alaska is geographically part of the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, according to Agence France-Presse. On March 1964, a 9.2-magnitude quake "devastated Anchorage and unleashed a tsunami that slammed the Gulf of Alaska, the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii," AFP said, wherein 250 people were killed by the quake and tsunami.

The 1964 quake that hit Alaska was the strongest shaker ever recorded in North America.

Also read: USGS Raises Warning Due to Potential Eruptions of Active Volcanoes in the US