Tsunami warning canceled after Alaskans were sent fleeing in the wake of a strong earthquake
Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A powerful undersea earthquake sent Alaskans fumbling for suitcases and racing to evacuation centers in the middle of the night after a cell phone alert warned a tsunami could hit communities along the state’s southern coast and parts of British Columbia.
The monster waves never materialized, but people who fled endured four hours of tense waiting at shelters before they were cleared to return home.
“A tsunami was generated by this event, but no longer poses a threat,” a message from the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said just after 4 a.m. in Alaska.
“This was a win as far as I could tell,” said Marjie Veeder, clerk for the city of Unalaska, which is home to the international fishing port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. “We got advance warning and were so thankful for that.”
The U.S. Geologic Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 7.9; the National Weather Service put it at 8.2. The quake in the Gulf of Alaska triggered the jarring alert that roused people shortly after midnight Tuesday. Fleeing motorists clogged some highways in their rush to higher ground. Many took refuge at schools or other shelters.
Even for Alaskans accustomed to tsunami threats and tsunami drills, the phone message was alarming. It read: “Emergency Alert. Tsunami danger on the coast. Go to high ground or move inland. Listen to local news.”
There were no reports of damage, not even on Kodiak Island, the closest land to the epicenter. No reports, either, of significant ocean surges after the expected time the first effects could reach Alaskan shores. The Tsunami Warning Center reported that a small tsunami with a wave height of less than 8 inches was observed in Kodiak and other Alaska towns of Old Harbor and Seward.
Only after the all-clear was sounded did a little levity emerge. In Kodiak, a customer’s Facebook post suggested a post-evacuation meal at King’s Diner: “Hungry? Tsunami got you up early?”
Eleanor King opened the diner at the usual time of 6 a.m. By the time customers started arriving, the excitement had passed and people just sat around quietly eating their meals, speaking little of the quake.
Tuesday’s quake was recorded at 12:32 a.m. in the Pacific Ocean about 170 miles southeast of Kodiak, home to one of the nation’s largest Coast Guard bases.
Elsewhere in the U.S., Washington state, Oregon, California and Hawaii were under tsunami watches, which eventually were lifted. Officials in Japan say there was no tsunami threat there.