Sunday, July 16, 2023

7.2 earthquake strikes off southern Alaskan coast, tsunami advisory no longer in effect



A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck near the Alaska Peninsula late Saturday.

Preliminary data placed the quake about 55 miles southwest of Sand Point, Alaska, the National Weather Service said. It had initially been measured at a magnitude of 7.4, the United States Geological Survey said on Twitter.

It struck at about 10:48 p.m. local time. In Kodiak, Alaska, sirens sounded late at night, according to a video posted on social media.

The quake prompted the National Weather Service in Anchorage to issue a brief tsunami warning, saying there was a risk of "significant inundation," an alert that was downgraded to an advisory before being canceled altogether early Sunday.

"A tsunami was generated by this event, but no longer poses a threat," the NWS National Tsunami Warning Center said. "Some areas may continue to see small sea level changes."

The center's earlier update had been an advisory, urged locals near the coast to "move off the beach and out of harbors and marinas."

In a brief tsunami warning before the advisory, weather officials had listed times spanning about 90 minutes when tsunami waves were expected to hit the shore "from Chignik Bay to Unimak Pass."

"Significant inundation is possible or already occurring," the service's Anchorage office said on Twitter in announcing the earlier warning. "Move inland to higher ground."

There was no tsunami threat in Hawaii, the state's Management Agency said.

The earthquake was along the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, where large tremors are common, USGS officials said in a summary of the event.












7.2 earthquake strikes off southern Alaskan coast, tsunami advisory no longer in effect
CNN

A tsunami advisory issued after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska late Saturday has since been canceled, officials said.

The earthquake hit offshore about 55 miles southwest from Sand Point, Alaska, at a depth of 13 mi. on Saturday around 10:48 p.m. local (2:48  a.m. ET), according to the US Tsunami Warning Center

The quake prompted a brief tsunami warning for parts of Alaska near the Aleutian islands, extending from Unimak Pass to Kennedy Entrance, before being revised to a tsunami advisory. A small tsunami was later observed up to 0.5 feet in elevation at Sand Point and King Cove, Alaska.

There is no tsunami threat for other Pacific coasts in the US and Canada, the advisory said. 

The Alaska Volcano Observatory provided a threat notice for the Shishaldin volcano after it sent up a plume of ash earlier Saturday, according to a social media post.

There is a “watch” currently in effect for the Shishaldin volcano. According to the observatory, seismic tremor aptitudes began to increase at around 5 p.m. local.

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