At at 12:38 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. ET), the US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a magnitude of 7.3, with its centre in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Sand Point, close to the Shumagin Islands, just south of the Alaska Peninsula. Residents across a wide area of southwestern Alaska, from Kennedy Entrance near Homer to Unimak Pass near Unalaska, were warned to leave right away by sirens and emergency warnings that lighted up phones throughout the area.

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

Additionally, officials issued a warning about the possibility of tsunamis striking parts of the eastern Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, and Kodiak Island, with certain regions anticipated to be affected first.