A 7.2 magnitude earthquake in southern Alaska briefly triggered a tsunami advisory, which was later canceled, according to monitoring bodies.
The earthquake was widely felt across the Aleutian Islands, Alaskan Peninsula, and Cook Inlet regions, as reported by the Alaska Earthquake Center.
In Kodiak, Alaska, sirens alerted residents to a possible tsunami, prompting them to seek shelter late at night, as shown in a social media video.
The United States Geological Survey shared on social media that the earthquake occurred 106 kilometers (65.8 miles) south of Sand Point, Alaska, at 10:48 p.m. on Saturday. Initially reported as a 7.4 magnitude, it was later downgraded to 7.2.
The U.S. National Weather Service issued a tsunami advisory, stating that the earthquake had a depth of 13 miles (21 kilometers). However, the advisory was canceled approximately an hour after the initial alert.
Prior to the cancellation, the National Weather Service in Anchorage, Alaska, tweeted that the tsunami advisory applied to coastal Alaska from Chignik Bay to Unimak Pass, but there was no expected impact on Kodiak Island and the Kenai Peninsula.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency swiftly confirmed that there was no threat to the islands. Within three minutes of the initial earthquake, the same area in Alaska experienced an estimated eight aftershocks, including one measuring 5.0 magnitude, as reported by KTUU-TV.
Residents were advised not to reoccupy hazard zones without clearance from local emergency officials, according to KTUU.
Although small sea level changes remained possible, as reported by KTUU, Alaska witnesses thousands of earthquakes each year, with most being too deep and too small to be felt. It is the most seismically active state in the U.S. and the location of the second-largest recorded earthquake in history. In 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake in Prince William Sound caused extensive damage throughout south-central Alaska.
