Saturday, January 05, 2013

Tsunami warning after 7.5 quake strikes off Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A tsunami warning was issued for coastal areas of southeast Alaska and British Columbia after an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude struck in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday.

The quake occurred about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Port Alexander, southern Alaska, at a depth of about 6 miles (10 km) at 0858 GMT, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which downgraded the magnitude from an initial 7.7.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, put out a tsunami warning for areas stretching from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Cape Suckling, 75 miles southeast of the Prince William Sound town of Cordova, Alaska.

Waves were expected to hit first in Langara, in Canada's British Columbia province, and later in the morning farther north and west, possibly reaching as far as Homer on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, the center said.

The tsunami warning was likely to be in effect for at least four hours, earthquake center scientist Bill Knight said. So far there had been no reports of damage from the earthquake.

Officials in Sitka, southern Alaska, were urging evacuations in low-lying areas, local radio station KCAW reported.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck British Columbia on October 27. A tsunami warning was issued but no damage ensued.

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Writing by Pravin Char; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Saturday, January 05, 2013

Tsunami warning after 7.5 quake strikes off Alaska