Tsunami warning canceled for Alaska, Canada

JUNEAU, Alaska - The Associated Press

A powerful earthquake sparked a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles of Alaskan and Canadian coastline, but the alert was canceled when no damaging waves were generated.A tsunami was caused by the magnitude 7.5 quake, but the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said the waves don’t pose a threat to the areas.
 
The quake struck at midnight Friday (1 a.m. PST Saturday) and was centered about 60 miles (95 kilometers) west of Craig, Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
 
A tsunami warning came minutes later and was eventually expanded to include coastal areas from Cape Fairweather, Alaska, to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada. The area extends for more than 700 miles (1,125 kilometers).
 
A center had warned that "significant widespread inundation of land is expected, adding that dangerous coastal flooding was possible.
 
In its cancellation statement, the center said that some areas were seeing just small sea level changes.
 
"A tsunami was generated during this event but no longer poses a threat," the center said.
 
After one community reported seeing just a small wave, the Cordova police said nothing had happened in their area and had no reports of any problems.
 
The Alaska Earthquake Information Center said the quake was widely felt but it received no reports of any damage.
 
In addition to the warning, a tsunami advisory was briefly in effect for coastal Alaska from Cape Suckling to 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Cordova and from the Washington state border to the tip of Vancouver Island.
 
A tsunami warning means an area is likely to be hit by a wave, while an advisory means there may be strong currents, but that widespread inundation is not expected to occur.