A tsunami warning issued for coastal areas of British Columbia and Alaska following an 8.2 magnitude earthquake off the southern Alaskan coast have been lifted.
A tsunami watch had been issued for the entire US west coast. Reports say the quake is among the stongest in US history even though the quake’s strength was later downgraded to 7.9.
Areas under tsunami watch included coastal areas of Vancouver and Vancouver Island, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Anchorage and Juneau.
Anyone in the affected areas were advised to evacuate to higher ground or move to an upper floor for several hours overnight after the quake struck.
It hit 173 miles south-east of Kodiak near Anchorage and tsunami warnings were also issued for as far away as Hawaii and Guam
It was desdcribed as a ‘slow rolling’ temor that lasted more than a minute.
