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Tsunami warning downgraded following Alaska earthquake

Posted at 7:16 AM, Jan 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-23 07:43:27-05

KODIAK, Alaska — A magnitude-7.9 earthquake detected in the Gulf of Alaska triggered tsunami warnings in Alaska and tsunami watches across several Western states. The Tsunami watch for Washington, Oregon, and California coastal areas have since been canceled.

A tsunami warning in Alaska was downgraded to an advisory.

As of 2:29 a.m. (6:29 a.m. ET), water in the harbor near Kodiak was receding, the city’s police department tweeted, after earlier urging residents to get at least 100 feet above sea level.

“Citizens should remain in place and wait for further updates,” Kodiak police said.

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management warned residents within three blocks of the Pacific Coast or within five blocks of the San Francisco Bay to prepare to evacuate, “so that you are ready if evacuation is needed,” the agency tweeted.

The earthquake struck about 175 miles southeast of Kodiak, Alaska, shortly after midnight Alaska local time, according to preliminary figures from the United States Geological Survey. The quake had a depth of about 15 miles, according to the USGS. Previously, the earthquake had been measured at magnitude 8.2.

‘Whole town is evacuating’

Nathaniel Moore was on a boat in Kodiak when the quake hit. He said he felt it “shake really good for a minute.” He and others on the commercial fishing vessel quickly got to shore and headed for higher ground amid the tsunami warning.

“The whole town is evacuating,” he told CNN early Tuesday.

Tsunami sirens sounded in Kodiak, and police warned: “This is not a drill.”

Wendy Bliss Snipes described the quake as “a slow roller, so it was felt for at least a minute before the real rolling started. Nothing fell off the walls, and I didn’t have to wake my kiddo.”

Heather Rand, who was in Anchorage, Alaska, told CNN that the earthquake felt like the longest she had ever experienced.

“It was a very long, slow build up. Creepy, more than anything. Definitely the longest, and I was born here,” Rand said. She reported no damage besides cracks in the drywall.