A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck south of Alaska late Wednesday evening local time, prompting the U.S. to issue tsunami warnings for the peninsula and other coastal areas.
Scientists say that on average, a magnitude 8 or higher earthquake only occurs once a year anywhere in the world.
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The earthquake occurred along the Aleutian Trench, part of Pacific Ring of Fire, with experts predicting that the aftereffects of the quake may soon be felt in Hawaii, the U.S. pacific territory of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands. Even as far away as New Zealand, officials were assessing if the quake posed a tsunami risk Thursday.
According to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System, the earthquake struck 75 miles south-east from the Alaskan city of Chignik and had a depth of 20 miles.
On social media, videos appeared to show sirens blaring through the streets of Alaska. While some residents, including those in the city of Kodiak, were originally instructed to evacuate and seek higher ground by authorities, the threat was later downgraded and people living in areas of concern were asked to instead remain vigilant.
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“Aftershocks have been occurring and are expected to continue, and we will post about significant events,” Alaska Earthquake Center tweeted Thursday, adding that the tsunami warning had been lifted but was still “an advisory” for certain areas.
“Tsunamis can travel across oceans at speed of jet airplane,” Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist for the Capital Weather Gang, tweeted Thursday, adding that tsunamis are often hard to predict due to the fact they do not “visibly manifest until close to shore where water is shallow.”
Authorities in New Zealand later updated their assessment to say they didn’t expect any flooding on land, but local media reports that they are continuing to assess whether other tsunami effects may be felt offshore.
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In earthquake-prone New Zealand, thousands of residents from New Zealand coastal towns in March this year were evacuated after a cluster of earthquakes up to 8.1 magnitude struck northeast of the country.
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The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by a 9.3 magnitude earthquake which raised a 1200 kilometer (roughly 745 mile) stretch of seafloor by several meters, displacing an enormous volume of water which surged inland in some places as much as several kilometers.
Rachel Pannett in Sydney contributed to this report.
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