An 8.2-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Alaska prompted a tsunami warning for parts of the state late Wednesday night.
An earthquake was detected about 75 miles southeast of Chignik, Alaska, said the National Tsunami Warning Center, which issued the warning.
The warning was in effect for south Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands, said the Weather Service in Palmer, Alaska, which warned that “widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible,” based on the preliminary parameters of the quake.
In Alaska, just before midnight local time, a buoy near Sand Point measured a rise in water level of about six inches. Another near Old Harbor on Kodiak Island measured just over eight inches.
A tsunami watch was also briefly issued for Hawaii and canceled a little over an hour later, the governor said on Twitter.
In Kodiak, where the earthquake could be felt, tsunami sirens blared and people began moving to higher ground.
Perryville, Alaska, with a population of 113, is 57 miles northwest of the quake’s epicenter, the United States Geological Survey said. Anchorage, with a population of nearly 300,000, was about 500 miles north northeast.
Since 1990, there have been 17 earthquakes of 8.2 magnitude or higher, according to U.S.G.S. data.