Communities along a 1,126-kilometre stretch of Alaska's southern coast ordered residents to higher ground after a powerful offshore earthquake Wednesday, but officials quickly downgraded and then cancelled a tsunami warning for the region.

Ground shaking was strongest in Sand Point, with reports of "objects flying out of the pantry and off of shelves," noted the Alaska Earthquake Center.

Just after the quake, NOAA's National Tsunami Warning Center issued Tsunami Warnings for the immediate Alaska coastline from Kennedy Entrance to Unimak Pass, including all of Kodiak Island, Chignik and Cold Bay. The U.S. Coast Guard reported it evacuated personnel from its base at Kodiak to higher ground and had two air crews stand ready to assist.