Earthquake hits area off Alaska's shore: US gov't

A moderate earthquake measuring 5.6 hit an area near Kodiak Island off the southern shore of the US state of Alaska, the US government reported on Monday.

A moderate earthquake measuring 5.6 hit an area near Kodiak Island off the southern shore of the US state of Alaska, the US government reported on Monday.

HT Image

The epicentre of the tremor, which occurred at 0713 GMT (1243 IST), was located 111 kilometres south southeast of Old Harbor, Alaska, the US Geological Survey said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, now used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.