Washington: A strong 6.8-magnitude earthquake
struck Alaska's Aleutian Islands early on Friday, triggering a
tsunami warning for the remote region that was later lifted,
the US Geological Survey reported.
The underwater quake occurred at 1:55 am (1625 IST) some
130 kilometres from the town of Dutch Harbor, one of several
spots in the Pacific island chain that host commercial fishing
operations.
USGS initially put the magnitude of the quake at 7.1 but
later downgraded it to 6.8. The quake occurred at a depth of
22 miles.
The epicentre was some 1,000 miles from the state's
largest city Anchorage, USGS added. There were no immediate
reports of damage.
"It's a very remote part of Alaska," and few people would
have felt the quake, USGS seismologist Jessica Sigala told
a news agency.
An aftershock of magnitude 4.5 hit the region about half
an hour later.
The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center posted a
tsunami warning for parts of coastal Alaska, but cancelled it
about an hour after the quake.
The Aleutian Islands sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a
horseshoe-shaped seismic belt some 25,000 miles long where the
majority of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
occur.
PTI
First Published: Friday, September 02, 2011, 21:56