(FOX NEWS) -- A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake rattled a large swath of coastal Alaska late Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning that sent residents fleeing before it was called off.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 10:12 p.m. local time, centered 65 miles south-southeast of Perryville at a depth of 17 miles.
“This is a very significant earthquake in size,” Michael West, state seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center, told the Anchorage Daily News.