A tsunami warning for the coast of British Columbia has been cancelled after a powerful earthquake struck Alaska Tuesday morning.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck at about 1:32 a.m. PST and had a preliminary reading of 8.2, which it later revised to 7.9. It struck 278 kilometres southeast of Kodiak at a depth of about 10 kilometres.
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Environment Canada has initially issued a tsunami warning, but hours later it was cancelled and evacuations have been lifted.
The warning has also been cancelled for Alaska and the U.S. west coast.
Tsunami warnings have ended for:
- Central Coast and Northeast Vancouver Island coast including Kitimat Bella Coola and Port Hardy
- The Outer West Coast of Vancouver Island from Cape Scott to Port Renfrew
Wind warning in effect for
- North Vancouver Island
The U.S. National Weather Service has initially issued this graphic illustrating tsunami travel time contours.
Waking up to sirens
Residents along the province’s coast were woken by warning sirens shortly after the quake struck off the coast of Alaska.
There were a dozen aftershocks after the earthquake — the biggest being a 5.6 magnitude.
Local radio on the Alaskan island of Kodiak, close to the epicentre, urged listeners to move away from coastal areas.
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Evacuations were also in place for parts of B.C.
“This is a tsunami warning. this is not a drill. Please get out to higher ground,” said the announcer on KMXT public radio. “If you are on the flats, get up on one of the hills … Just go high.”
There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.
— With files from Reuters