A major earthquake off Alaska with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 has prompted a tsunami advisory for the state’s southern peninsula.
The tsunami advisory was downgraded from an initial tsunami warning Wednesday afternoon after the earthquake struck about 50 miles south of Sand Point, Alaska, at around 12:38 p.m. local time, according to the National Weather Service.
Multiple aftershocks have been reported near Sand Point, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Videos posted to social media showed people in the town of Seward evacuating to higher ground after receiving the tsunami warning. The U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said it was also evacuating personnel at its base in Kodiak to higher ground, asking residents to heed warnings from NWS and local officials.
People are urged to stay out of the water and away from beaches and waterways until the tsunami advisory is canceled.
Dave Snider, a tsunami warning coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told CBS affiliate KTUU-TV that a tsunami has been confirmed and those along the southwestern coastline will still see some impact, but large, widespread waves aren’t expected.
“The good news is this event happened in shallow water,” Snider told KTUU. “We’re not expecting to see a large inundation of water coming up on shore.”
The depth of the earthquake was approximately 12 miles, according to NOAA.
The impacted areas spanned the Kennedy Entrance, a channel that connects the Gulf of Alaska to Cook Inlet, to Unimak Pass, which is just to the west of Unimak Island at the end of the peninsula. There was no danger to Anchorage, the state’s most populous city, as of 5:30 p.m. ET, NWS Anchorage said.
www.tsunami.gov 
The quake was felt throughout the Alaska Peninsula and southern Alaska, the Alaska Earthquake Center said.
Earlier in the day, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake also struck the region. It was located approximately 40 miles southeast of Atka Island, the earthquake center said.
Alaska’s southern coast is situated along the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire.” The strongest ever recorded earthquake in North America occurred there in March 1964, when a 9.2-magnitude earthquake devastated Anchorage and unleashed a tsunami that killed more than 250 people.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
