A tsunami warning was lifted for Alaska communities in the western Aleutians on Tuesday evening, after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of
Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula at about 3:25 p.m. Alaska time. A tsunami advisory is still in effect for the western Aleutians, including Adak, Atka and Amchitka.
A tsunami warning had initially been in effect for communities along the western Aleutian Chain, including Unalaska, Atka, Adak and the Pribilofs.
An update at 5:27 p.m. Alaska time canceled the tsunami watch for the Alaska Peninsula east of Chignik Bay as well as southern and Southeast Alaska, after an alert had been issued earlier that day for much of the state's coast.
Much of the U.S. West Coast also remains under a tsunami advisory, with parts of California and Hawaii still under a warning.
A tsunami warning means people should evacuate inland or to higher ground. Under an advisory, people are advised to stay out of the water and away from beaches and waterways.
The Tsunami Warning Center said that waves of a foot or under had been observed in communities across the Aleutians, including Unalaska, St. Paul and Nikolski. Adak and Atka saw wave heights of over one foot, according to the center, with waves in Atka measuring 1.4-feet.
“A tsunami did occur,” said Dave Snider, a tsunami warning coordinator with the center. “A tsunami is not just one wave, it's a series of powerful waves. And so it's entirely possible that the first wave is not the largest and may not be the last.”
Snider said there may still be some unusual currents and water levels in coastal communities over the next several days.
“Don't be surprised if that happens, and be extra cautious in places that you're familiar with. Every community knows their coastline better than anybody else,” he said.
In Adak, City Manager Breck Craig and most of the community gathered to wait for the wave at the Bering Hill Chapel on Tuesday evening. The town’s village public safety officer, Mike Lejarzar, peered out to Kuluk Bay with his binoculars, looking for any signs of a tsunami.
“Are you seeing anything, Mike?” Craig asked. “You don’t see anything?”
A wave was forecasted to arrive at 5:40 p.m., but Craig saw no sign of one.
Craig said that by then, most of the town had evacuated to the chapel, which acts as the city’s tsunami shelter.
“We sounded the tsunami siren and collected everybody up and got everybody up here,” Craig said. “We're all just kind of hanging out, waiting for what they're thinking is a one foot or three foot wave maybe to come in.”
Craig said everyone had gone home by about 7 p.m., but the city would stay vigilant and watch any updates over the next 15 hours. According to the National Weather Service, tsunamis are a series of waves, and a large tsunami can continue for hours or days in some locations.
In Atka, one of the westernmost communities in the Aleutian Chain, Mayor Luke Snigaroff said that no wave had materialized as of 6:12 p.m., but roughly two dozen residents in the Unangax̂ village had evacuated to high ground.
“We’re still under warning,” Snigaroff said in a telephone interview. “Everybody’s up at the water treatment plant or the quarantine shelter.”
A magnitude of 8.8 would make this one of the ten largest earthquakes ever recorded worldwide, and the largest in more than a decade.
KUCB’s Maggie Nelson and Theo Greenly contributed reporting.
This is a developing story.