Moderate earthquake hits Alaska’s Kiska Island, no damage or injuries

January 17th, 2010 - 3:59 am ICT by BNO News  

KISKA, ALASKA (BNO NEWS) — A moderate earthquake struck south of Alaska’s Kiska Volcano on Saturday, seismologists said. No damage or injuries were reported, nor expected.

The earthquake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 5.3, happened around 10.08 a.m. local time (20.08 UTC) about 30 miles south of Kiska, a tiny island that is home to Kiska Volcano. Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

The Aleutian Islands are a chain of more than 300 islands that extend southwestward from Alaska into the northern Pacific Ocean and is often struck by powerful earthquakes, usually without causing damage or casualties as its population is very low. More earthquakes occur in the Aleutian Islands region than in all other 49 U.S. states combined.

The magnitude of Saturday’s earthquake was too small to cause a tsunami threat. “An earthquake has occurred with a magnitude such that a tsunami will not be generated,” the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said in a tsunami seismic information statement.

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