Authorities in Kodiak, Alaska, are telling residents to move to higher ground after a strong earthquake struck nearby, prompting tsunami warning for a large swath of coastal Alaska and Canada’s British Columbia while the remainder of the U.S. West Coast was under a watch.
A dispatcher at the Kodiak police department answered a call from The Associated Press by saying, “If this about the tsunami, you need to get to higher ground immediately.”
The earthquake, initially reported as a magnitude 8.2, was recorded about 175 miles southeast of Kodiak Island early Tuesday morning. Warnings from the National Weather Service sent to cellphones in Alaska warned: “Emergency Alert. Tsunami danger on the coast. Go to high ground or move inland.”
Kodiak officials warned residents to evacuate if they lived in low-lying areas.People reported on social media that the quake was felt hundreds of miles away, in Anchorage.