8.0 Earthquake Strikes Alaska – Tsunami Warning Issued

Alaska Coastline - Public Domain

A magnitude-8.0 earthquake was widely felt in communities along Alaska’s sparsely populated Aleutian Islands on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

Natasha Ruppert, a seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center, said the communities that would have suffered damage are also under tsunami warnings, so people may not have been able to get out and check for damage yet.

The earthquake recorded at 12:53 p.m. local time was initially reported with a magnitude of 7.1, but Ruppert says that was upgraded to 8.0. The quake was centered about 13 miles southeast of Little Sitkin Island.

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