8.2 magnitude quake in Alaska puts some B.C. coastal residents on edge

KITAMAAT VILLAGE, B.C. — A powerful earthquake off Alaska Wednesday night triggered tsunami warnings and watches far across the Pacific and led to some anxious hours for residents of low lying regions along British Columbia’s northwest coast.

The U.S. Geological Survey says an 8.2 magnitude quake hit off the Alaska Peninsula roughly 800 kilometres southwest of Anchorage at about 9:15 p.m. Pacific time.

It was followed within half an hour by aftershocks that the geological survey website says had magnitudes of 6.1 and 5.9.

Emergency Management BC did not issue a tsunami warning but Ellis Ross, who represents the riding of Skeena in the B.C. Legislature, lives in Kitamaat Village on B.C.’s north coast and says residents were ordered to higher ground.

He says that’s the emergency plan for the community regardless of provincial advisories and everyone moved to the bench above the village for several hours until Emergency Management BC confirmed a damaging wave would not occur.

There have been no immediate reports of damage in Alaska or B.C. but Natural Resources Canada seismologist John Cassidy says in a social media post that shaking was recorded on Vancouver Island.

The geological survey website shows people living as far away as Washington state and Oregon also reported feeling the ground move.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2021.

The Canadian Press