OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:35 PM – Sunday, July 16, 2023
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Alaska late on Saturday night, prompting officials to issue a temporary tsunami warning for the state’s southern half.
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The temblor struck 65.8 miles south of Sand Point, Alaska, at 10:48 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s social media page.
The National Weather Service of the United States issued a tsunami warning for coastal Alaska from Chignik Bay to Unimak Pass, stating that the quake occurred at a depth of 13 miles. However, the caution was eventually discontinued an hour after the initial alarm.
According to the Alaska Earthquake Center, the quake shook the Aleutian Islands, the Alaskan Peninsula, and Cook Inlet regions.
The Alaska-based KTUU-TV station reported that there were eight aftershocks in the same location in Alaska, including one measuring 5.0 magnitude within three minutes of the first earthquake.
On social media, residents of Kodiak were seen driving to shelters as sirens warned of a potential tsunami.
Every year, hundreds of earthquakes strike Alaska, however, the majority of them are too deep or too small to notice.
The Alaska Earthquake Center says that the 49th state is the most seismically active region in the United States and the site of the second-largest earthquake ever recorded. A magnitude 9.2 earthquake near Prince William Sound in 1964 caused widespread damage in south-central Alaska.
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