Photo: USGS
A 6.0-magnitude earthquake was reported in Alaska on Thursday (November 27), according to the United States Geological Survey.
The earthquake was centered near Willow, at a depth of 69.4 kilometers (about 43 miles). The USGS said it received 6,827 reports of people having felt the earthquake as of Wednesday afternoon.
There is currently no threat of a tsunami in the area, according to Tsunami.gov. The earthquake was reported at approximately 8:11 a.m. local time.
Three aftershocks were reported to have measured as a 2.9-magnitude, a 2.6-magnitude and a 3.2-magnitude after the 6.0-magnitude struck on Thursday. The 6.0-magnitude earthquake is among 12 reported in Willow within the past 24 hours; 49 in the past seven days; 170 in the past 30 days; and 1,401 in the past 365 days, as well as the largest within the past week, according to EarthquakeTrack.com.
Earthquakes measured between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude can be felt by a large population, however, rarely results in much damage, according to Michigan Tech via the Sacramento Bee. Alaska is among the states where earthquakes are most commonly reported in the U.S., along with California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
An estimated 500,000 detectable earthquakes are reported worldwide annually, however, around 100,000 are felt and only 100 typically result in serious damage. Officials strongly advise that anyone caught in an earthquake should drop, cover and hold on, according to the Sacramento Bee.