7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes near Alaska, prompting brief tsunami warning

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck near the Alaska Peninsula late Saturday.

Preliminary data placed the quake about 55 miles southwest of Sand Point, Alaska, with a magnitude of 7.2, the weather service said. It had initially been measured at a magnitude of 7.4, the United States Geological Survey said on Twitter.

It struck at about 10:48 p.m. local time.

The quake prompted the National Weather Service to issue a brief tsunami warning, saying there was a risk of “significant inundation,” an alert that was downgraded to an advisory before being canceled altogether early Sunday.

“If you are located in this coastal area, move off the beach and out of harbors and marinas,” officials at the National Tsunami Warning Center had said in the advisory.

The earlier tsunami warning had listed times spanning about 90 minutes when tsunami waves were expected to hit the shore “from Chignik Bay to Unimak Pass.”

“Significant inundation is possible or already occurring,” the service’s Anchorage office said on Twitter in announcing the earlier warning. “Move inland to higher ground.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.