Tsunami Warning in Effect After 7.9 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Alaska

A 7.9-magnitude earthquake in the Gulf of Alaska has triggered tsunami warnings in Alaska and tsunami watches in several Western states.

On Tuesday morning, a tsunami warning was put into effect for southeast and south Alaska, including the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Island, and for Canada’s British Columbia.

Warnings from the National Weather Service sent to cell phones in Alaska warned: “Emergency Alert. Tsunami danger on the coast. Go to high ground or move inland.”

A tsunami watch is in effect for California, Oregon and Washington, the Tsunami Warning Center declared.

Residents were urged to stay at least 100 feet above sea level, and as of 2:29 a.m. (6:29 a.m. ET), water in the harbor near Kodiak was receding, the city’s police department wrote on social media.

“Citizens should remain in place and wait for further updates,” Kodiak police said.

In San Francisco, the Department of Emergency Management warned residents within three blocks of the Pacific Coast of within five blocks of the San Francisco Bay to prepare for the potential of an evacuation.

“Prepare to evacuate so you are ready if evacuation is needed,” the department wrote on Twitter.

The initial earthquake struck about 175 miles southeast of Kodiak, Alaska, shortly after midnight Alaska local time, the United States Geological Survey reports. It had a depth of about 15 miles and measured magnitude 7.9; it had previously been measured as 8.2.

Heather Rand, who was in Anchorage, Alaska, told CNN that the earthquake felt like the longest she had ever experienced in the state.

“It was a very long, slow build up. Creepy, more than anything. Definitely the longest, and I was born here,” Rand said. She only reported cracks in the drywall as damage from the weather event.

The U.S. Geological Survey tweeted an explanation for the earthquake, telling readers, “The M 7.9 occurred as the result of strike slip faulting… The Pacific plate is converging with the North America plate.”

“Over the preceding century, 11 other M7+ earthquakes have occurred within 600 km of today’s earthquake,” it added.