Alaska tsunami fears prompt evacuation

A tsunami warning was lifted hours after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska in the US.

The quake hit 280km (173 miles) south-east of Kodiak, at a depth of 25km, at 09:31 GMT, the US Geological Survey says.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) said "a tsunami has been confirmed and some impacts are expected".

A lower-level advisory was still in effect for south Alaska, the peninsula, and parts of the Pacific coast.

Waves between 0.4ft and 0.7ft have been recorded in Kodiak, Seward, Old Harbor, Sitka and Yakutat.

The NWS said that tsunami waves of less than one foot (0.3m) were expected in the Alaskan town of Homer.

Residents had earlier been told to seek high ground as sirens in several towns blared at around 01:00 on Tuesday.

The weather service said an earlier tsunami warning had been cancelled "for the coastal areas of British Columbia, south-east Alaska and south Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula from The Wash./BC Border to Hinchinbrook Entrance, Alaska".

Many residents in Kodiak left by car in the middle of the night.