Iran Press/America: The tsunami warning covers much of the southern coast of the remote US state, including the thinly populated Alaska Peninsula, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The at-risk zone currently extends hundreds of miles northeast to the Cook Inlet but stops just short of the state's largest city of Anchorage, located at the end of that gulf.
The level of tsunami danger is being evaluated, the agency warned.
The earthquake hit some 57 miles (92 km) from the small city of Sand Point, at a depth of 25 miles (40km), the US Geological Survey said.
Sand Point, also known as Popof Island, is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 976, up from 952 in 2000. It is on northwestern Popof Island, one of the Shumagin Islands, off the Alaska Peninsula.
There was a low likelihood of casualties and damage from the quake itself, the USGS added.
The major quake was followed by at least four aftershocks of 5.0-magnitude or higher.
The earthquake was felt in the nearby Alaska Peninsula community of King Cove, but everything seemed to be intact, city administrator Gary Hennigh told the Anchorage Daily News.
"Residents and cannery workers are evacuating to higher ground until we know more about the tsunami warning," Hennigh said.
Cold Bay resident Michael Ashley said the quake was "a pretty good ride."
"All the couches, recliners, and bookcases were moving around, and I had to pretty much hold one of them up," he told the newspaper.
There was no immediately available information on possible casualties or damage elsewhere.
211
