A large earthquake rattled Alaska's seismically active Aleutian Islands, but there were no immediate reports of any damages or injuries.
The magnitude-7.2 quake struck at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and was centered about 125 miles west of Adak in the island chain, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
A dispatcher with the Anchorage Police Department said he didn't feel the quake, some 1,300 miles away, and there were no reports of any injuries or damages.
The Aleutian Islands are a chain of more than 300 islands that extend southwestward from Alaska into the northern Pacific Ocean.
A tsunami warning was canceled early Wednesday for the Pacific U.S. and Canadian coasts after officials determined waves from the earthquake posed no widespread destructive threat.
According to their Web site, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii will issue a final message for that state and other areas outside the California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska, when the all-clear is given.
The earth's most active seismic feature, the circum-Pacific seismic belt, brushes Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, where more earthquakes occur than in the other 49 States combined.
The Andreanof Island sustained a magnitude 8.8 earthquake in March 1957 that caused very severe damage on Adak and Unimak Islands. A damaging tsunami was generated, and a wall of water 40 feet high smashed the coastline of Scotch Cap on Unimak Island. Sand Bay, near Adak, reported 26-foot waves inundated its shores.
