6.1 quake rattles Alaska peninsula

WASHINGTON—A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Alaskan peninsula Saturday some 600 miles (970 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, the US Geological Survey said.

The temblor struck at 1959 GMT, with the epicenter near Sand Point, Alaska, on an island in the North Pacific just off the Alaska Peninsula, USGS said.

The depth of the quake was 30 miles (48 kilometers).

It came some three weeks after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, triggering a tsunami warning that sent people heading for high ground before the alert was canceled.