Earthquake Hits Alaska Coast

A N C H O R A G E, Alaska, Jan. 10, 2001 -- A strong earthquakeof 6.7 magnitude today rattled coastal Alaska,authorities said, but no significant damage or tidal wavethreat was reported.

The quake struck at 7:03 a.m. local time, centered 65 miles southwest of KodiakIsland, Alaska, or 330 miles southwest of Anchorage,and was felt across the region, according to the NationalEarthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

The West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer,Alaska, measured the quake at 6.9, and pinpointed it at 20miles below the sea floor.

Residents reported homes shaking as far away as Anchorageas well as in smaller coastal cities like Perryville and KingSalmon.

"The ground trembled. I was still at home at the time andthe blinds rattled and windows shook," said Paul Smith,assistant to the chief of police in Kodiak city, on thesparsely populated island in the Gulf of Alaska.

Alaska typically sees a half dozen quakes each year abovemagnitude 6. Today's tremor was the strongest since amagnitude 7 in the same waters off Kodiak in December 1999,said geophysicist Paul Whitmore at the tsunami warning center.

"We did not feel it here, but there were reports inAnchorage and down in Seward," Whitmore said.

The tsunami center issues tidal wave warnings after coastalquakes measuring 7.1 or higher, Whitmore said. Today'squake was expected to produce aftershocks, most likely within30 miles of the epicenter.