WASHINGTON ? A strong earthquake measuring 6.7 hit an area in the Pacific Ocean west of the US Aleutian Islands chain, the US government said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or destruction.

The tremor, which occurred at 9:56 pm local time Saturday (0556 GMT Sunday), was located 43
kilometers (27 miles) west of Nikolski Island, according to the US Geological Survey.

There was no threat of tsunami, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

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.