Alaska earthquake:Tsunami alerts cancelled after 8.2 magnitude earthquake off Alaska coast.
A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck south of Alaska late Wednesday evening local time, prompting the U.S. to issue tsunami warnings for the peninsula and other coastal areas before the advisories were rescinded hours later.
The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center urged locals to stay vigilant and warned that “strong and unusual currents may continue for the next several hours."
Scientists say that on average, a magnitude 8 or higher earthquake only occurs once a year anywhere in the world.
The earthquake occurred along the Aleutian Trench, part of Pacific Ring of Fire, with experts predicting that the aftereffects of the quake may soon be felt in Hawaii, the U.S. pacific territory of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands. Even as far away as New Zealand, officials were assessing if the quake posed a tsunami risk Thursday.
According to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System, the earthquake struck 75 miles south-east from the Alaskan city of Chignik and had a depth of 20 miles.
On social media, videos appeared to show sirens blaring through the streets of Alaska. While some residents, including those in the city of Kodiak, were originally instructed to evacuate and seek higher ground by authorities, the threat was later downgraded.
“Aftershocks have been occurring and are expected to continue, and we will post about significant events,” Alaska Earthquake Center tweeted Thursday. The tsunami warning morphed into “an advisory” for certain areas before the all-clear was given in the early morning Thursday local time.
The National Tsunami Warning Center also told West Coast residents in a tweet that “no significant tsunami” is expected.
“Tsunamis can travel across oceans at speed of jet airplane,” Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist for the Capital Weather Gang, tweeted Thursday, adding that tsunamis are often hard to predict due to the fact they do not “visibly manifest until close to shore where water is shallow.”
Source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...
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