UPDATE: B.C. officials find no threat of tsunami in B.C. after earthquake shakes Alaska

VICTORIA – British Columbia officials say there is no local risk of a tsunami following a 7.5-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of the Alaska Peninsula on Monday afternoon.

Emergency Management B.C. says in an email that there is no threat to B.C.

The earthquake prompted tsunami warnings for a vast swath of communities in the northern U.S. state, leading some schools to evacuate and to send students to higher ground.

READ MORE: 7.5 magnitude quake off Alaska prompts US tsunami warning

The Alaska Earthquake Center said the quake was widely felt in communities along the southern coast, including Sand Point, Chignik, Unalaska and the Kenai Peninsula.

It said a magnitude 5.2 aftershock was reported 11 minutes later, centred roughly in the same area.

Public safety officials in King Cove sent out an alert urging residents in the coastal area to move inland to higher ground.

The earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean just before 1 p.m. and was centred about 118 kilometres southeast of Sand Point at a depth of 30 kilometres.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2020.