Tsunami Warning Canceled for Coastal Alaska After 7.8 Earthquake

By Anchorage Daily News.

A tsunami warning across a large swath of coastal Alaska triggered by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake off the Alaska Peninsula on Tuesday night was canceled by 12:30 a.m. Wednesday after the officials determined the tsunami was no longer a threat.

The tsunami warning originally stretched from the Alaska Peninsula to Kodiak Island and the western Kenai Peninsula, sending Alaskans scrambling to higher ground in communities such as Kodiak, Sand Point, Unalaska and Homer.

Though some people in Anchorage received tsunami warning alerts, the Anchorage area was not at risk, said Louise Fode, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

In its notice of the tsunami warning cancellation, the National Tsunami Warning Center said that “a tsunami was generated by this event, but no longer poses a threat. Some areas may continue to see small sea level changes.”

The center also urged people not to return to hazard zones until local officials say it is safe to do so.

James Gridley, director of the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, said in an interview early Wednesday that “our procedures put us into a warning even if we haven’t measured a tsunami wave — we imply that there is until we know better.”

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