A massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck off Alaska’s Kodiak Island early Tuesday, prompting a tsunami warning for a large swath of coastal Alaska and Canada’s British Columbia and watch for the remainder of the West Coast.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was recorded about at 12:31 a.m. local tim about 155 miles off of Chiniak, Alaska and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said “widespread hazardous tsunami waves were possible.”
|
Advertisement |
USGS
The M 7.9 occurred as the result of strike slip faulting. At it’s location, the Pacific plate is converging with the North America plate.
Buoy 46410, which is northeast of the quake’s epicenter, has recorded a “water displacement” of 32 feet, the National Weather Service said.
The quake was was felt in Anchorage and around southcentral Alaska, The Anchorage Daily News reported.
“This is a very large earthquake, and Alaska is no stranger to earthquakes or tsunamis,” Fox News’ Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean said on “FOX & friends.” “They’ve had four of them in the past.”