Magnitude-7.7 earthquake shakes northern Pacific Ocean near Alaska's Aleutian Islands

By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and staff writer

July 18,2017, 6:49:11AM,EDT

 

 

A powerful earthquake shook areas off the coast of eastern Russia late on Tuesday morning, local time.
The epicenter of the magnitude-7.7 earthquake was located about 123 miles (199 km) east-southeast of Nikol'skoye, Russia, according to the USGS.
The National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) issued statements shortly after the quake warning of a possible tsunami for areas nearby the epicenter. This included part of Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
However, the NTWC later said that the threat of a tsunami had passed.

According to the NTWC, a 0.3 foot tsunami was measured at Shemya, Alaska, at 5:12 p.m. PDT Monday and that some nearby areas may continue to see a small sea level change.

This earthquake is the second largest of 2017 with the strongest being a magnitude-7.9 that shook Papua New Guinea in January.
The magnitude-7.7 earthquake was also followed up by more than half a dozen aftershocks, some over magnitude-5.0.