Tsunami advisory issued for Alaska after 7.3-magnitude earthquake off Aleutians

A large stretch of the Alaska coast was on watch for a tsunami Wednesday after a 7.3-magintude earthquake off the Aleutian Islands, officials said.

The earthquake struck at 12:38 p.m. local time (4:38 p.m. ET), and its epicenter was 55 miles south of Sand Point, a community on Popof Island, according to the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center. It had a depth of 12 miles.

No tsunami readings were immediately available, and Kodiak Island was not expected to see any possible effects until 2:40 local time (6:40 p.m. ET).

Widespread inundation from the tsunami is not expected, the Tsunami Warning Center said, but strong currents or waves that are dangerous to people very near the water were expected.

An initial tsunami warning was changed to a tsunami advisory.

The advisory covered a stretch of coast from Unimak Pass in the Aleutians to the Kennedy Entrance, which is 40 miles south of Homer.

Emergency officials in Kodiak, a city of around 5,500 on Kodiak Island around 250 miles south of Anchorage, announced shelters would be opened and sirens would sound before the warning was downgraded.

“The sirens will stop sounding. Please continue to use caution at or near the coast,” Kodiak Island Emergency Management said on social media.

There was no threat to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, emergency officials said after the earthquake.

The city administrator for Sand Point, Debi Schmidt, told NBC affiliate KTUU of Anchorage that the earthquake was the most powerful she’s ever felt.

“I was at home for lunch and the house was shaking and things were falling, and cupboard doors were coming open,” she told the station. “No damage, though.”