Pacific quake sparks tsunami alert

A major earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 hit the Pacific Ocean off Alaska’s remote Aleutian Islands today, prompting a tsunami alert and sending people fleeing to high ground.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Centre said the quake was felt through the central Aleutians and as far east as Dutch Harbour and Unalaska. There are no immediate reports of damage.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre posted a tsunami warning for certain coastal areas of Alaska, but cancelled the alert about an hour after the quake.

The warning covered an area from 80 miles north east of Dutch Harbour to about 125 miles west of Adak.

In Dutch Harbour, longshoreman Jim Paulin said warning sirens caused hundreds of people to begin climbing a nearby hill.