Thousands of Alaska residents flee for higher ground after mega earthquake triggers tsunami warning

Thousands of Alaska residents have fled for higher ground after a mega earthquake triggered a tsunami warning.

Residents along the coast have been urged to evacuate after the US Geological Survey (USGS) detected a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, just south of the Alaska Peninsula.

Since then, emergency alerts have been sent round, with people being warned to get out of the area immediately.

Rachel Lord, who is the mayor of the city of Homer in Alaska, said: “We’ve been hearing [that] initially there was a lot of bumper-to-bumper traffic and people just trying to get you know to get off the spit.”

This is due to the threat of a possible tsunami that could be triggered by the earthquake, with officials warning that Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula, and parts of the eastern Aleutian Islands, are all at risk of being impacted.

Thousands of Alaska residents have fled for higher ground (John Morrison/Getty Images)

Both Kodiak High School and North Star Elementary School were opened up to serve as emergency shelters for the public.

Michael West, who is a seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center, spoke to Fox Weather, where he said: “The entire southern coast of Alaska is a gigantic earthquake zone. Four out of five earthquakes in the United States happen in Alaska.

“Early signs suggest we're on the lucky side today.”

Things are looking more positive after the Tsunami Warning Center said: “A tsunami was generated by this event, but no longer poses a threat. Some areas may continue to see small sea level changes.”

However, locals have been alerted to the fact that large waves could continue to appear for the next 24 hours and to remain cautious.

This isn’t the only extreme natural event to occur in Alaska this year as, in March, residents in Anchorage were warned about a potential volcanic eruption, with the chances of Mount Spurr erupting having increased.

Residents along the coast have been urged to evacuate (Ashley Cooper/Getty Images)

At the time, it was thought that it could happen ‘within the next few weeks or months’.

Speaking to Alaska Public Media, Matt Haney, who is the scientist in charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, said: “It’s almost like we have a checklist of the usual signs that volcanoes give us before they progress to an eruption, and now we’re seeing all four of those are giving us those indicators.”

Mount Spurr can be found in a remote region around 80 miles west of Anchorage. If you wanted to visit it, you’d have to charter a plane as there is very little in terms of infrastructure there, apart from the Alaska Volcano Observatory’s monitoring stations.