Ground shaking was strongest in Sand Point, with reports of "objects flying out of the pantry and off of shelves," noted the Alaska Earthquake Center.

Communities along a 700-mile stretch of Alaska’s southern coast ordered their residents to higher ground after a powerful earthquake, but officials quickly downgraded and then canceled a tsunami warning in the area.

The giant earthquake was recorded at 12:37 p.m. local time, southeast of Sand Point, a community located on Popof Island in the Aleutian Chain.