Moderate to strong quakes strike western Aleutian Islands and offshore

AMCHITKA ISLAND, Alaska (AP) — A series of moderate to strong earthquakes struck Alaska’s western Aleutian Islands and offshore areas Sunday.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the area around Adak, Amchitka and Kiska islands some 1,350 miles (2,200 kilometers) west of Anchorage. Of the three remote islands, only Adak Island, with a population of about 300 people, is inhabited.

Nine quakes measuring at least magnitude 5.0 struck on or near the islands and in a cluster offshore to the south Sunday morning and afternoon, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.

Three of the quakes measured 6.0 or stronger, with the biggest a 6.3 temblor offshore.

“We are monitoring these events and their aftershocks, and will update when we have more information on the nature of this seismic activity,” the earthquake center said in a post on the social media site X.

The quakes did not appear related to recent seismic activity at a volcano near Anchorage that last erupted in 1992.

Much of Alaska including the Aleutian Islands is on the Ring of Fire, a seismically and volcanically active zone that surrounds most of the Pacific Ocean.