Strong earthquake rattles southern Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A strong earthquake shook southeastern Alaska early Thursday, but there was no danger of a tsunami and no early reports of any damage, officials said.
The magnitude 6.0 quake struck shortly before 1 a.m. and was centered in the ocean, about 200 miles south of the capital, Juneau, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a tsunami.
The quake was widely felt across the region, but the Alaska Earthquake Information Center said it had no immediate reports of any damage.
The police dispatch office in the coastal town of Craig, 60 miles east of the epicenter, said the quake was felt but it had received no calls about damage or other problems.
Still, the USGS said the quake was strong enough to have an effect.
"There might be slight cracks in windows or walls or foundations, but not something where you would expect major devastation," said USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughan. "Certainly things might have been rattled off walls or off countertops or out of cabinets."
The center says the quake is an aftershock to a magnitude 7.5 temblor that struck on Jan. 4. That quake sparked a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles along the Alaska and Canadian coasts, but it was cancelled after a few hours when no damaging waves were generated.
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The Broadcast News Center in Washington contributed to this report.
The magnitude 6.0 quake struck shortly before 1 a.m. and was centered in the ocean, about 200 miles south of the capital, Juneau, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a tsunami.
The quake was widely felt across the region, but the Alaska Earthquake Information Center said it had no immediate reports of any damage.
The police dispatch office in the coastal town of Craig, 60 miles east of the epicenter, said the quake was felt but it had received no calls about damage or other problems.
Still, the USGS said the quake was strong enough to have an effect.
"There might be slight cracks in windows or walls or foundations, but not something where you would expect major devastation," said USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughan. "Certainly things might have been rattled off walls or off countertops or out of cabinets."
The center says the quake is an aftershock to a magnitude 7.5 temblor that struck on Jan. 4. That quake sparked a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles along the Alaska and Canadian coasts, but it was cancelled after a few hours when no damaging waves were generated.
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The Broadcast News Center in Washington contributed to this report.
"The center says the quake is an aftershock to a magnitude 7.5 temblor that struck on Jan. 4."
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An aftershock, three weeks after the initial quake ???
 @Petwlkr I was in Kodiak during the great Alaskan earthquake, a 9.2 magnitude. Per wikipedia there were thousands of aftershocks in the first 3 weeks and many more in the next 3 weeks. According to wikipedia it was a full year before aftershocks were no longer noticed.Â
 @JT Huh, learn something new every day. Thanks for the info.
 @Petwlkr Aftershocks can happen months and rarely years after a main shock. I don't know the specifics but seismologists have a means of determining new shocks or shocks related to a specific sequence.
 @Nic Stevens Hard to imagine but I will take your word for it. Thx.
6.0 and no tsunami? Glad to hear that.Â
@Seahawker You have to get very specific conditions to get a tsunami from an earth quake that occurs in the inland waters. Most of the communities are located inside the alexander archipelago so there often is no danger of tsunami's. If a quake is centered out in the open ocean the threat is very real. Sitka is the only town that is really exposed to the outer side. When I lived there we did earthquake and tsunami drills in the grade schools just like we do fire drills everywhere else.