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| Alaska Earthquake |
Yahoo USA Top Latest News - The powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake that shook the Aleutian Islands on Monday was the largest quake to hit the U.S. in more than a decade, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake, centered about 13 miles southeast of Little Sitkin Island, triggered more than 21 aftershocks and prompted tsunami warnings and evacuations for the islands near the epicenter. The warning was later downgraded to an advisory as experts ruled out the potential of a destructive tsunami for other Pacific coastlines. The last U.S. quake as big as the one that occurred Monday was a 7.9 tremor near Alaska's Denali National Park on Nov. 3, 2002, and the last major earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater occurred in the Aleutian Islands on Aug. 13, 2013.
Monday's earthquake struck at 12:53 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time (4:53 p.m. Eastern time) near Little Sitkin Island in the far western part of the Aleutian Island chain, just west of the International Date Line.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the main jolt was followed by a series of aftershocks. Two significant aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.0 and 5.8, occurred 18 and 37 minutes after the main shock, respectively. About four hours after the 7.9 temblor, a magnitude-6.9 aftershock rocked the same area.
