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2mo ago

Tsunami Alert Briefly Issued After 7.3-Magnitude Quake Off Alaska Coast

The alert for southwest Alaska’s largely uninhabited coast up to Anchorage was lifted once monitoring showed no significant tsunami risk.

Au nord de l’Alaska (photo d’illustration).
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Overview

  • A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 87 km south of Sand Point in the Shumagin Islands on July 16, according to the USGS.
  • US authorities issued a tsunami warning covering more than 1,100 km of southwest Alaska’s coastline before canceling it less than two hours later.
  • The USGS assessed that the risk of casualties or major damage was low given the region’s predominantly quake-resistant structures.
  • Communities including Unalaska and Kodiak briefly activated sirens and evacuation protocols before standing down when the threat passed.
  • Alaska’s location at the junction of the Pacific and North American plates makes it prone to powerful quakes, highlighted by a 9.2-magnitude event in 1964 and a 7.2-magnitude tremor in 2023.