'Terrifying' Tsunami Sirens Alert Residents After Major Quake

UPDATE: Tuesday January 23 6:40 am

The National Tsunami Center has canceled a tsunami warning that was triggered by a powerful earthquake off the coast of Alaska.

Mickey Varnadao, a computer specialist with the warning center in Palmer, Alaska, said early Tuesday that an advisory remains in effect for parts of Alaska, from Kodiak Island to Prince William Sound.

Watches have been canceled for British Columbia in Canada, Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii. Officials in Japan say there is no tsunami threat there.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CBSDFW/AP) — An estimated magnitude 8.2 earthquake off Alaska's Kodiak Island prompted a tsunami warning for a large swath of coastal Alaska and Canada's British Columbia while the remainder of the U.S. West Coast was under a watch.

The strong earthquake was recorded about 175 miles southeast of Kodiak Island early Tuesday morning. Warnings from the National Weather Service sent to cellphones in Alaska warned: "Emergency Alert. Tsunami danger on the coast. Go to high ground or move inland."

Kodiak officials warned residents to evacuate if they lived in low-lying areas.

People reported on social media that the quake was felt hundreds of miles away, in Anchorage.

As the shock of the earthquake wore off, several people posted video of tsunami warning sirens on social media.

"Tsunami sirens going off in Kodiak after the earthquake" wrote ylie j (@scarygirl) on twitter. I usually only ever hear the weekly siren test at 2pm on Wednesdays so hearing it at 1am on Tuesday is actually terrifying!!"

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