7.5 Quake Hits Near Alaska Coast, 5.9, 5.8 Aftershocks, Residents Evacuate To High Ground For Tsunami Warnings

People evacuate after tsunami warning prompted by magnitude 7.5 earthquake near Alaska

By Steve Almasy, Dave Alsup and Andy Rose, CNN

Updated 6:59 PM ET

A tsunami warning was issued Monday after a preliminary magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck near Sand Point, Alaska.

The warning was for the Alaska Peninsula and South Alaska, according to the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

"We are still waiting for any wave that may have been generated," Scott Langley with the National Tsunami Warning Center said.

Langley said the area subject to the warning is "pretty remote." Officials should know soon whether a tsunami was generated, he said.

The earthquake's epicenter was recorded less than 60 miles from Sand Point, near the Aleutian Peninsula in the southwestern part of the state.

"We did feel it," Sand Point Clinic employee Lorna Osterback said. "This is a big one."

Osterback said residents of the town will be heading to higher ground away from the shoreline in the wake of the large quake as they wait out the tsunami threat. 

"We expect we will have another one in about half an hour," noted Osterback. "We're right on the fault line. I grew up here and it's kind of normal." 

Residents of Homer could also be seen driving inland.

A line of traffic leaves Homer, Alaska, after a tsunami evacuation order was issued for low-lying areas.

Several aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 5.9 and one that was 5.8, struck in the hour after the big quake.

7.5 magnitude earthquake near Alaska triggers tsunami warning

Doha Madani

A tsunami warning is in effect for southern Alaska on Monday after a major earthquake and large aftershock hit near the Alaskan Peninsula.

An initial earthquake with a 7.5 magnitude occurred around Sand Point, Alaska, a city on one of the Shumagin Islands, at about 5:14 p.m. E.T., according to the Official U.S. Geological Survey. An aftershock hit the area about 20 minutes later at a magnitude of 5.8, the USGS said.

The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coasts from Kennedy Entrance, Alaska to Unimak Pass, Alaska. Police in Homer, Alaska, asked anyone in the potential flooding zone to move to higher ground immediately in fear of a potential tsunami.

Sand Point, where the earthquake appears to have originated, is about 575 nautical miles southwest of Anchorage. The city is located on Popof Island, one of 20 islands in the Aleutians East Borough south of the mainland.