Tsunami alert after 7.4 magnitude earthquake

The state of Alaska was put on a tsunami alert on Monday, after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake was recorded that so far no casualties or damage have been reported, according to US authorities.

The alert covers much of the southern coast of the remote US state, including the sparsely populated Alaska Peninsula, according to the national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) office.

The hazard zone currently extends hundreds of miles northeast to Cook Inlet, but does not encompass the state’s largest city, Anchorage, located at the end of that gulf.

The “level of tsunami danger is being assessed,” the agency warned.

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The earthquake struck about 92 km from the small town of Sand Point, at a depth of 40 km, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which also indicated that there is “a low probability of human casualties and material damage.” .

The quake was followed by at least four aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or more.

The move was felt in the nearby community of King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula, but so far no damage has been reported, city manager Gary Hennigh told the Anchorage Daily News.

“Residents and workers at the cannery are being evacuated to higher ground until we learn more about the tsunami warning,” Hennigh added.

Cold Bay resident Michael Ashley recalled how the shaking passed.

“All the sofas, recliners and shelves were moving, and I had to hold one of them,” he told the newspaper.