A tsunami warning was issued for stretches of coastal Alaska and British Colombia A tsunami warning for British Columbia, Canada, and southeastern Alaska has been cancelled after a major off-shore earthquake on Saturday produced a mere six-inch wave, officials said .
The 7.5-magnitude tremor struck off the coast of Alaska at 0358 hrs local time [0858 hrs GMT], CNN reported.
The United States Geological Service [USGS] initially measured the quake at 7.7-magnitude, sparking fears that a “potentially destructive” tsunami could strike coastal areas of Canada and southern Alaska.
"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated," the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reported in an earlier statement. "It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicentre."
The earthquake was centred 63 miles west of Craig, on Prince of Wales Island, and 208 miles south of Juneau, USGS reported.
The warning was cancelled after a small tsunami of about 6 inches was seen near Port Alexander in southeastern Alaska.
The earthquake reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.
Source: UPI, AFP