An 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit off Alaska’s southern coast Wednesday night prompting tsunami warnings and forcing residents to evacuate. The video above shows some of those evacuations, as sirens blared.
Warnings covered a nearly 1,000-mile stretch from Prince William Sound to Samalga Island, Alaska, near the end of the Aleutian Islands. They weren’t canceled until early Thursday morning.
The earthquake itself hit about 50 miles south of the Alaska Peninsula at 10:15 pm local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. “Seismic instruments indicate the earthquake originated at a depth of 20 miles” below the surface of the ocean, the USGS reported.
Initial reports from residents revealed only minor damage. The biggest wave reported was just over a half foot in Old Harbor.
By 3:00 a.m. local time, 268 “Did You Feel It?” reports had been submitted to the USGS.
At least two aftershocks, with magnitudes of 6.2 and 5.6 respectively, hit in the same area within hours of the first one.
Patrick Mayer, the superintendent of schools for the Aleutians East Borough, was sitting in his kitchen when shaking from the quake started.
“It started to go and just didn’t stop,” Mayer told the Anchorage Daily News. “It went on for a long time, and there were several aftershocks, too. The pantry is empty all over the floor, the fridge is empty all over the floor.”
Meanwhile on the Kenai Peninsula, a steady stream of cars were seen evacuating the Homer Spit, the jut of land seen in the video above. The Spit extends about five miles into Kachemak Bay.
In King Cove, up to 400 people took shelter in the school gym.
“We’re used to this. This is pretty normal for this area to get these kind of quakes, and when the tsunami sirens go off, it’s just something we do,” school principal Paul Barker said. “It’s not something you ever get used to, but it’s part of the job living here and being part of the community.”
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