B.C. officials find no threat of tsunami in B.C. after earthquake shakes Alaska

VICTORIA — An earthquake in Alaska caused officials to assess the possibility of a tsunami in British Columbia on Monday before they determined there was no threat.

The 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Alaska Peninsula, prompting tsunami warnings for a vast swath of communities in the northern U.S. state.

Some schools were evacuated and students sent to higher ground in Alaska. 

The tsunami warning in the United States stretched for nearly 1,600 kilometres along Alaska’s southern coast, with waves over 60 centimetres at the nearest community as the threat subsided.

The Alaska Earthquake Center said the quake was widely felt in communities along the southern coast, including Sand Point, Chignik, Unalaska and the Kenai Peninsula. 

It said a magnitude 5.2 aftershock was reported 11 minutes later, centred roughly in the same area. 

Public safety officials in King Cove sent out an alert urging residents in the coastal area to move inland to higher ground.

The earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean just before 1 p.m. and was centred about 118 kilometres southeast of Sand Point at a depth of 30 kilometres. 

Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said an earthquake the size of the one experienced Monday is not a surprise in the area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2020.

The Canadian Press