7.2 magnitude earthquake hits Alaska coast as tsunami warning issued

The quake occurred at a depth of 9.3km and felt widely throughout the Alaskan Peninsula

The earthquake near the Alaska peninsula has triggered a tsunami warning (USGS)

An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 struck the Alaska Peninsula region early on Sunday morning, with a tsunami warning issued but later withdrawn.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake occurred at depth of 32.6 km (20.3 miles) and was relatively shallow.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami warning for regions of the Pacific located close to the earthquake but this was lifted a few hours later.

The Alaska Earthquake Centre said the event was felt widely throughout the Aleutian Islands, the Alaskan Peninsula, and Cook Inlet regions.

In a statement, the National Tsunami Warning Center said: “Tsunami warning in effect for South Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula, Pacific coasts from Kennedy Entrance, Alaska (40 miles SW of Homer) to Unman Pass, Alaska (80 miles NE of Unalaska).

“For other US and Canadian Pacific coasts in North America, the level of tsunami danger is being evaluated.

“Further information will be provided in supplementary messages.”

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties although a few Twitter accounts posted videos of tsunami sirens and strong tremors being felt.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory also provided another threat notice for the Shishaldin volcano after it sent up a big plume of ash.

“The explosive eruption of Shishaldin Volcano is continuing,” they said on Twitter. “A continuous ash plume now extends over 80 mi (125 km) to the SSE from the volcano with an altitude of about 16,000 ft.”

They continued: “Seismicity has remained elevated for over 6 hours at Shishaldin and frequent explosion signals are being detected at regional infrasound (pressure sensor) networks. Some explosions are sending ash plumes as high as 20,000 ft (6 km) above sea level.

“Due to the duration of this current activity and the extent of the distributing ash cloud the Aviation Color Code is being raised to RED and the Volcano Alert Level is being raised to WARNING for Shishaldin.”

They noted that the earthquake was not related to volcanic activity.

In 1964, an earthquake of the reported magnitude 9.2 provoked a huge Tsunami in Alaska, killing 131 people.

Landslides and avalanches were produced following more than four minutes of shaking, with major structural damage caused in several small communities.