Alaska Earthquake: Tsunami Alert Canceled After 8.2 Magnitude Earthquake

Residents hurriedly relocated to higher ground to flee coastal communities after a powerful earthquake struck off Alaska's coast late Wednesday and early Thursday. The said quake generated aftershocks and now-canceled tsunami warnings.

Pat Branson, mayor of Kodiak, Alaska, told CNN that the magnitude 8.2 earthquake was the greatest in the area since the 1960s. The tremor prompted the third evacuation in the area in 18 months.

Brian McNoldy, the senior research associate at the University of Miami's Department of Atmospheric Science, said on Twitter the quake could be the most powerful in North America since a magnitude 8.7 earthquake in Alaska.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck 56 miles east southeast of Perryville, Alaska, at about 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday. According to the Alaska Earthquake Center, the earthquake was felt over the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey said at least two powerful aftershocks with preliminary magnitudes of 6.2 and 5.6 occurred within a half-hour of the original quake.

According to preliminary seismic data, the earthquake may have produced light to moderate damage and likely considerable shaking.

The National Tsunami Warning Center in the United States canceled a tsunami warning for sections of the state early Thursday.

"Remember, strong and unusual currents may continue for several hours," a tweet from the center said. "If you have damage, please report it to your local officials."

The Anchorage Daily News mentioned that the tsunami warning was withdrawn after waves of less than one foot reached onshore.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had earlier stated that the possible threat to Guam and American Samoa was still being investigated. But the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center later issued a statement saying that no substantial tsunami is forecast and that California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska are "all clear." In addition, a tsunami warning for Hawaii was discontinued.

Following the earthquake, Kodiak police recommended citizens move to higher ground, and the local high school was open as an evacuation site.

People flocked to social media to post videos of themselves fleeing their homes and fleeing to higher ground as warning sirens blared.

Patrick Mayer, head of schools for the Aleutians East Borough in Sand Point, Alaska said he was sitting in his kitchen when the shaking began.

Mayer claimed he was transported to a nearby school that was on higher elevation.

According to the newspaper, Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, he anticipates any earthquake damage to be revealed later in the morning.

The earthquake was the third large quake in the area in 13 months, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Mayer claimed he was transported to a nearby school that was on higher elevation.

Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told the newspaper he anticipates any earthquake damage to be revealed later in the morning.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the earthquake was the third large quake in the area in 13 months.

Alaska is situated on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped geological disaster zone and tectonic and volcanic hotbed.

USGS said the state had previously been struck by the biggest earthquake ever recorded in North America. The 9.2-magnitude Good Friday earthquake in 1964, which resulted in 131 deaths and $2.3 billion in property damage.