Fire chief: 7.9 magnitude Alaska earthquake went on for more than 1 minute

A tsunami watch that was in effect for the Washington coast after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Alaska was canceled by the National Weather Service.

Check the Earthquake Tracker

The cancellation came at 4:18 a.m.

The earthquake was recorded around 12:30 a.m. about 170 miles southeast of Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska. It had a preliminary magnitude of 8.2 but has been downgraded to magnitude 7.9.

A fire chief in Alaska told The Associated Press that the earthquake went on for up to 90 seconds.

“Boy, I hope this stops soon because it’s just getting worse,” he said.

There have been at least 10 aftershocks.

Parts of south and southeast Alaska were under a tsunami warning, but now only south Alaska and the Alaska peninsula are under an advisory.

Overnight evacuations happened in Kodiak, Alaska. People awoke to warnings to get to higher elevations.

Larry LeDoux, superintendent of the Kodiak Island Borough School District, says schools were open as shelters and estimated there were about 500 people at the high school.

According to the United States Geological Service, the earthquake was the result of strike slip faulting where the Pacific plate is converging with the North American plate.

USGS says over the last 100 years, 11 other earthquakes of magnitude 7 or larger have occurred within 600km of Tuesday’s quake.