Tim Pearce on January 23, 2018
A tsunami advisory is still effect Tuesday for parts of Alaska after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck in the Gulf of Alaska.
Alaska and British Columbia were under a tsunami warning and Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii were under a tsunami watch for a short time. The warning has since been downgraded to an advisory and the watch for the was canceled completely.
The quake hit about 12:30 a.m., 175 miles southeast of Kodiak Island, Alaska. The first waves were expected to hit before 2 a.m. in Alaska. Only small, one-foot waves have hit Alaska’s coastline, so far, CNN reports.
The M 7.9 occurred as the result of strike slip faulting. At it's location, 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.https://t.co/JzzWd0ID2k
— USGS (@USGS) January 23, 2018
Residents in Kodiak Island were advised to leave low-lying areas and stay in evacuation shelters.
Lt. Tim Putney of the Kodiak Police Department said the earthquake lasted for about half a minute.
“I’ve been Kodiak for 19 years that was the strongest, longest lasting one I’ve ever felt,” Putney told The Associated Press.
