NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A tsunami watch issued early Tuesday for the West Coast in response to a large Alaskan earthquake has been canceled.

The US Tsunami Warning System canceled the West Coast tsunami watch shortly before 4:30 a.m.

The watch had been issued a few hour earlier for the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington following a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in the Gulf of Alaska, as Lake County News has reported.

Also canceled was a tsunami watch for Hawaii and a warning for coastal parts of Alaska and British Columbia.

However, officials said a tsunami had been confirmed and some impacts were expected, with a  tsunami advisory in effect for south Alaska and the Alaskan Peninsula, specifically, the Pacific coasts from Hinchinbrook Entrance to Chignik Bay, Alaska.

Since the 7.9-magnitude quake occurred just after 1:30 a.m., until the tsunami watch was canceled three hours later, the US Geological Survey reported 20 smaller quakes ranging in size from 2.5 to 5.6 magnitude, most of them centered in the Gulf of Alaska.

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