Tsunami Warning Canceled for 7.1-Magnitude Alaska Earthquake
A subsea earthquake was recorded on Friday near the Fox Islands, a group of islands in eastern Aleutian Islands in Alaska.
The earthquake, initially measuring 7.1 in magnitude, has now been confirmed at 6.8 and occurred at approximately 2:55 a.m. AKDT.
It was recorded by the United States Geological Survey as 35.5 km in depth; with the epicenter located in close proximity to Amukta Island, Alaska; Yunaska Island, Alaska; Anchorage, Alaska; and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.
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The area of Atka, Alaska was one of the few landmasses to actually feel the earthquake. Spokesman for the Alaska Department of Homeland Security, Jeremy Zidek told AP that the earthquake did not pose any danger.
"In Atka, they had a little bump of a wave, but nothing of any kind of a destructive power. Just a wave," he said.
Initially, the quake had prompted a tsunami warning for the Dutch Harbor, Alaska area. Residents were urged to evacuate to high grounds via emergency sirens, however the warning was canceled an hour later.
An unnamed woman at the city hall in the high ground location of Unalaska, Alaska told AP before the warning was canceled that a few people were following the warning directive.
"We have some people on high ground, but not a lot," she said. "Sirens woke us all up - everybody's moving."
The area is already scarcely populated.
No injuries or damage have been immediately associated with the earthquake.
In June, the Aleutian Islands experienced a 7.2 that also prompted a tsunami warning.
The last destructive earthquake to occur in Alaska was a 9.2 magnitude quake in March 1962. It collapsed buildings, prompted tsunamis and took the lives of 131 people.
