Alaska is hit by magnitude 6.8 earthquake, shaking up homes and residents, but there is no threat of a tsunami say officials
Earthquake struck about 1.30am Alaska time, U.S. Geological Survey says
It was centered 160 miles southwest of Anchorage, the state’s biggest city
The agency had initially had assessed the magnitude of the quake as 7.1
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it was not anticipating a tsunami
The initial quake was followed by two aftershocks in the Cook Inlet region
The first measured 4.3 and the second was a magnitude 4.7, officials said
In 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake hit Alaska – the most powerful recorded in North America – which caused 139 deaths
By KHALEDA RAHMAN
DAILYMAIL.COM
24 January 2016
Alaska was hit by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The major earthquake struck about 1.30am Alaska time and was centered 53 miles west of Anchor Point and 160 miles southwest of Anchorage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The USGS, which initially had initially assessed the magnitude of the quake as 7.1, estimated that it had a depth of 127 kilometers (79 miles).
But the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it was not anticipating a destructive tsunami and that there was no threat to Hawaii from the quake.
The earthquake was then followed by aftershocks in the Cook Inlet region.
The Alaska Earthquake Center says preliminary reports put the latest aftershock at a magnitude-4.7. Two hours after the initial earthquake, a magnitude 4.3 aftershock hit the Cook Inlet, officials said.
The possibility of a gas leak led to the evacuation of more than a dozen homes in Kenai.
The quake knocked items off shelves and walls in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this earthquake-prone region, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Twitter users reported feeling the shaking, but there were no immediate reports of casualties in the region.
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