A shallow 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the Alaskan peninsula late Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said, prompting a tsunami warning. The earthquake hit 56 miles (91 kilometers) southeast of the town of Perryville, the USGS said, with a tsunami warning in effect for south Alaska and the Alaskan peninsula.
The US government issued a tsunami warning for Alaska’s southeast. “Hazardous tsunami waves for this earthquake are possible within the next three hours along some coasts,” the US Tsunami Warning System said in a statement. Perryville is a small village about 500 miles from Anchorage, Alaska’s biggest city. Alaska is part of the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake caused tsunami waves in Alaska’s southern coast in October, but no casualties were reported. Alaska was hit by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake in March 1964, the strongest ever recorded in North America. It devastated Anchorage and unleashed a tsunami that slammed the Gulf of Alaska, the US west coast, and Hawaii. More than 250 people were killed by the quake and the tsunami.
