Quake strikes off coast of Alaska

Or was that AR?

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck on Friday in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, prompting a tsunami warning for a portion of Alaska’s coast that was lifted after an hour.

The warning had covered areas of the Aleutians that included Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, the region’s biggest community, and Adak.

But no destructive tsunami was reported, said the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agency located in Palmer, Alaska.

The agency has received no immediate reports of damage, said Paul Whitmore, its director.

“It did happen in a very remote area and there are no towns close to the epicenter,” he said.

The closest community is Atka, an Aleut village of about 60 people that is approximately 100 miles to the west of the epicenter, Whitmore said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had said earlier it did not see a threat of a widespread destructive tsunami from the quake. The quake, which struck at 10:55 GMT, was 22.1 miles deep, the USGS said.