An Alaska tsunami warning had residents scrambling for high ground after
7.3 magnitude earthquake
[July 17, 2025]
By MARK THIESSEN and BECKY BOHRER
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Communities along a 700-mile (1,127-km) stretch
of Alaska’s southern coast ordered residents to higher ground after a
powerful offshore earthquake Wednesday, but officials quickly downgraded
and then canceled a tsunami warning for the region. There were no
reports of significant damage.
The earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, struck at 12:37
p.m. local time south of Sand Point, a community of about 600 people on
Popof Island, in the Aleutian chain, according to the Alaska Earthquake
Center.
There were 40 aftershocks detected within the first three hours, the
center said.
“We have seen other earthquakes in the area that have not generated
significant tsunami waves, but we’re treating it seriously and going
through our procedures, making sure communities are notified so they can
activate their evacuation procedures,” said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson
for Alaska's emergency management division.
The quake was felt as far away as Anchorage, almost 600 miles (966 km)
to the northeast.
The National Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for an area
stretching from about 40 miles (64.4 km) southwest of Homer to Unimak
Pass, a distance of about 700 miles (1,126 kilometers). Among the larger
communities in the area was Kodiak, with a population of about 5,200.
The warning was downgraded to an advisory about an hour later, and
canceled just before 2:45 p.m.
The highest water level generated by the earthquake in Sand Point was
not quite 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) above the tide, the center said.
“There’s no damage at the airport, doesn’t appear to be any damage at
the harbor, no damage to speak of, really,” Sand Point Police Chief
Benjamin Allen said.
There was some damage — in the form of broken bottles — at the Alaska
Commercial general store in town. Manager Vickey McDonald said about
half of the store's alcohol aisle had crashed and shattered.
“I’ve got liquid smoke and barbecue sauce and pickles ... broken on the
floor,” McDonald said. "It smells horrendous in here.”
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A driver passes the small boat harbor in King Cove, Alaska, Sept.
23, 2013. (James Brooks/Kodiak Daily Mirror via AP)
In Unalaska, a fishing community of about 4,100, officials urged
people in possible inundation zones to move at least 50 feet above
sea level or 1 mile (1.6 km) inland. In King Cove, which has about
870 residents on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula, officials
sent an alert calling on those in the coastal area to move to higher
ground.
Tourists Jodie Stevens and her husband, Aaron Park, were looking at
the puffins at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward when they heard
someone yelling that there had been an earthquake and they needed to
evacuate. They walked a few blocks uphill in the rain, with a woman
from the center yelling to those they passed to get to higher
ground.
They were about halfway to the official high ground spot when they
heard a siren signal that all was clear, she said.
The National Weather Service said in posts on social media that
there was no tsunami threat for other U.S. and Canadian Pacific
coasts in North America, including Washington, Oregon and
California.
Alaska's southern coast is earthquake-prone, and Wednesday's was the
fifth in roughly the same area since 2020 exceeding magnitude 7,
state seismologist Michael West said.
“Something’s moving in this area,” he said. “I would not call this
an isolated earthquake. It appears to be part of a larger sequence
spanning the last several years.”
That has the attention of seismologists, he said.
“This area has been and remains capable of larger earthquakes and
earthquakes capable of significant tsunami damage,” he said.
___
Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press writers Hallie
Golden in Seattle and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington,
contributed.
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