A powerful 7.8 earthquake has struck the Alaska Peninsula, US late Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning that sent residents fleeing to higher ground.
The tsunami warning was issued for South Alaska, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands, but early on Wednesday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami warning has been canceled.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck Tuesday at 10:12 p.m. local time. It was centered in waters 65 miles (105 kilometers) south-southeast of Perryville, Alaska at a depth of 17 miles (28 km), deeper than an earlier estimate.
On Kodiak Island, the local high school opened its doors for evacuees, as well as the local Catholic school, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
Hundreds wore masks against the spread of the coronavirus as they gathered in shelters.
Larry LeDoux, superintendent of the Kodiak School District said;
We have got a high school full of people. I have been passing out masks since the first siren sounded. Everything is as calm as can be. We have got probably 300, 400 people all wearing masks.
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said for other U.S. and Canadian Pacific coasts in North America, there is no tsunami threat.
According to the USGS, since 1900 there have been six other earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 and higher within 155 miles (250 km) of Tuesday’s quake. The largest of those was a 8.2 quake in 1938.
The Alaska-Aleutian Trench was also where a magnitude 9.2 quake in 1964 was centered.
