Strong Quake Hits Alaska, Tsunami Warning Lifted
A strong 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Alaska's Aleutian Islands early Friday, triggering a tsunami warning for the remote region that was later lifted, the US Geological Survey reported.
The underwater quake occurred at 1:55 am (1055 GMT) some 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the town of Dutch Harbor, one of several spots in the Pacific island chain that host commercial fishing operations.
USGS initially put the magnitude of the quake at 7.1 but later downgraded it to 6.8. The quake occurred at a depth of 22 miles.
The epicenter was some 1,000 miles from the state's largest city Anchorage, USGS added. There were no immediate reports of damage.
"It's a very remote part of Alaska," and few people would have felt the quake, USGS seismologist Jessica Sigala told AFP.
An aftershock of magnitude 4.5 hit the region about half an hour later.
The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center posted a tsunami warning for parts of coastal Alaska, but canceled it about an hour after the quake.
The Aleutian Islands sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped seismic belt some 25,000 miles long where the majority of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
Source: Agence France Presse
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