Tsunami warning canceled following 7.3 earthquake near Sand Point

Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, July 15, 2025

An earthquake along the Aleutians on Wednesday afternoon prompted a tsunami warning alert for peninsula residents.

The alert was issued at approximately 12:45 p.m., following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that occurred 55 miles off Sand Point at 12:37 p.m. at a depth of 12 miles.

An official update from the National Weather Service U.S. Tsunami Warning System said the area affected by the warning ranged from Unimak Pass, 80 miles northeast of Unalaska, to Kennedy Entrance, 40 miles southwest of Homer. Cities included in the warning were Cold Bay, Sand Point and Kodiak.

The warning was downgraded to an advisory at about 1:45 p.m.

An “all clear” was issued for Resurrection Bay at 1 p.m. The Kodiak Emergency Operations Center issued an all clear for Kodiak at 2:45 p.m.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management posted an “all clear” update on their Facebook page at 1:48 p.m., saying that there were no evacuations for communities on the Kenai Peninsula coastline, including Kachemak Bay communities.

At 5:20 p.m. the KPB OEM confirmed that the Kenai Peninsula Borough was not under any threat of tsunami wave activity.

The National Weather Service initially forecasted tsunami activity to start at 1:30 p.m. at Sand Point, 2:25 p.m. at Cold Bay, and 2:40 p.m. at Kodiak. A small wave, measuring about 0.2 feet, was observed near Sand Point following the earthquake, but was not labeled as a threat.

Aftershocks continued near the initial earthquake location for several hours, including two that measured higher than a 5.0 magnitude.