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A colossal 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska on Monday, triggering a tsunami watch.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that an earthquake struck 55 miles southeast of Sand Point at 4.54 pm EST.
A few minutes later, the National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning in southern Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula, telling residents that they are “in danger.”
“A series of powerful waves and strong currents can impact the nearby coasts,” the alert said.
The video also showed that tsunami sirens were sounding in coastal cities as well.
The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning Monday night near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
Before the tsunami warning, authorities recorded a magnitude 7.5 earthquake off the southeast coast of Alaska.
The cities of Sand Point, Cold Bay and Kodiak were included in the tsunami watch Monday night.
The advisory was issued for the cities of Sand Point, Cold Bay and Kodiak, all of which are sparsely populated.
Estimated tsunami arrival times were expected at Sand Point at 5.55 p.m., Cold Bay at 6.45 p.m. and Kodiak at 6.50 p.m. EST, the National Weather Service wrote.
The National Weather Service urged residents to stay away from coastal waters until authorities say it is safe to return.
Some schools in the Kenai Peninsula Township School District were being evacuated to higher ground, the district said on Twitter.
Raynelle Gardner, secretary at Sand Point School in the Aleutians East Borough School District, said things are hectic because “this is an evacuation point.”
“A series of powerful waves and strong currents can impact the coasts near you,” said the alert from the National Weather Service.
In the photo: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration displayed tsunami warning areas along the Alaskan coast after an earthquake struck Monday.
The size of the earthquake was originally reported to be a magnitude 7.4, but has been revised to 7.5, said Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey.
He said that an earthquake of this size, in this area, is not a surprise.
‘This is an area where the Pacific Plate is subducting below the North American Plate. And because of that, the Pacific Plate actually goes under the North American Plate, where it melts, ‘Caruso said, noting that’s why there are volcanoes in the region.
“So we commonly have large magnitude 7 earthquakes in that area.”
The National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said the tsunami warning was in effect for about 950 miles, from 40 miles southeast of Homer to Unimak Pass, about 80 miles northeast of Unalaska.
The Alaska Earthquake Center said the earthquake was widely felt in communities along the southern coast, including Sand Point, Chignik, Unalaska and the Kenai Peninsula.
“He was a good shaker here,” said David Adams, co-director of Marine View Bed and Breakfast in Sand Point. “We are doing well.” He said all the guests were accounted for and “the structure itself is solid.”
“You could see the water shivering and shimmering during the earthquake,” he said. “Our truck was rocking big.” He didn’t take any photos or video: ‘It just happened suddenly.’
Rita Tungul, a reception assistant at the Grand Aleutian Hotel in Unalaska, said she felt a shaking but it was not strong. His coworker didn’t feel the shaking at all, he said.
Connie Newton, owner of the Bearfoot Inn, a grocery store, liquor store and small hotel in Cold Bay, said the shaking felt as if someone had entered her building with a truck. Still, nothing fell to the ground and she suffered no harm because she protected her stores from earthquakes by installing 2-inch (5 cm) risers around the outside of herself.
The Alaska Earthquake Center reported three additional earthquakes after the initial one, with magnitudes between 5.0 and 5.2.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
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