In a region accustomed to seismic activity, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocked the offshore Alaska Peninsula on July 15 at 10:48 p.m. Alaska time.
The earthquake occurred three years to the month after the magnitude 7.8 Simeonof Earthquake that struck the same area.
The epicenter of the 7.2 earthquake was 50 miles south of Sand Point, approximately 100 miles southeast of the 7.8 event in 2020, and at a depth of around 20 miles.
Shortly after the earthquake struck, a tsunami warning was issued as a precautionary measure on Saturday night. It was downgraded the warning to an advisory level about an hour later, and ultimately canceled it just before 1 a.m. The recorded tsunami waves reached a maximum height of only 0.5 feet in King Cove and Sand Point, posing no significant threat to coastal communities.
The ground shaking resulting from the earthquake was felt across multiple communities on the Alaska Peninsula and the eastern Aleutian Islands, with an intensity reaching level V, considered moderate on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.
The Alaska Earthquake Center anticipates the earthquake will generate its own aftershock sequence, following the pattern of previous moderate-sized earthquakes in the region. As of now, the largest aftershock, measuring a magnitude 5.0, occurred three minutes after the main shock.
