Alaska, Hawaii under tsunami warning

Washington, Jan 13: Alaska was under a tsunami warning andHawaii under a tsunami watch early today after a 8.3-magnitudeearthquake in the northern Pacific Ocean, US authorities said.

The warning was in effect from Sand Point on the Alaskan Peninsulain the southwestern part of the state and west across the AleutianIslands, a 1.6 km chain of mostly uninhabited islands, according to theWest Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

The warning said an evacuation order was in effect for alllow-lying areas along the coast. Sand Point is 917 km southwest ofAnchorage, Alaska, with a population of fewer than 1,000 people.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami watch was ineffect for a wide area of the Pacific, including Guam, Taiwan, thePhilippines and Hawaii.

Stuart Weinstein, assistant director of the center in Honolulu, said he expected the watch would be lifted.

''I do not expect an ocean-crossing tsunami with destructive power,'' he said by telephone.

A small tsunami wave hit Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaidotoday after the quake hit 525 km east northeast of the Kurile slands,and 1,710 km northeast of Tokyo.

Reuters

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