B.C. cleared of tsunami threat after 7.5-magnitude quake off Alaska
Posted October 19, 2020 2:45 pm.
Last Updated October 19, 2020 4:49 pm.
ALASKA (NEWS 1130) — A 7.5 magnitude earthquake prompted a tsunami warning for south Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula. B.C. was later cleared of any tsunami risk.
According to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Centre, the earthquake hit off the Aleutian Islands, southeast of Sand Point, Monday afternoon around 2 p.m., initially registering at a magnitude 7.4.
It wasn’t officially cleared by Emergency Info BC for about two hours. It tweeted the risk was being assessed then determined there was no tsunami threat shortly after 4 p.m.
No tsunami threat to #BC https://t.co/Q1VkXtMJtS
— Emergency Info BC (@EmergencyInfoBC) October 19, 2020
Port Alberni Fire Department tweeted earlier that there is no longer a risk to Vancouver Island.
It has been determined that there is no tsunami threat to Vancouver Island as per the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. #tsunami #earthquake #vancouverisland pic.twitter.com/amyJgmOS1g
— Port Alberni Fire (@portalbernifire) October 19, 2020
In Alaska, the National Tsunami Warning Centre has since downgraded the initial warning to an advisory.
The quake was widely felt in communities along Alaska’s southern coast, with a 5.2 aftershock recorded 11 minutes later.
“The ground is shaking on Haida Gwaii as seismic waves from this afternoon’s M7.4 Aleutian Islands earthquake are rolling across the region,” John Cassidy, a professor at the University of Victoria and a Natural Resources Canada earthquake seismologist, says in a tweet.
The ground is shaking on #HaidaGwaii as seismic waves from this afternoon’s M7.4 Aleutian Islands earthquake are rolling across the region.
USGS details on this earthquake:https://t.co/8gsaxCS5sk
Tsunami information: https://t.co/iPTcPsOXGj
and your local authorities. pic.twitter.com/MiIv3MPZNj— John Cassidy (@earthquakeguy) October 19, 2020
There’s no word yet if anyone has been hurt.
The quake prompted tsunami warnings for several Alaska communities, leading some schools to evacuate and send students to higher ground.