A tsunami alert has been lifted hours after the United States Geological Survey issued a warning for parts of Canada and the entire western coast of the US and Hawaii following an earthquake that struck Alaska on Tuesday.

The earthquake of magnitude 7.9 hit about 300 km southeast of the town of Kodiak in Alaska around 9.30 am GMT (3 pm Indian Standard Time), the United States Geological Survey said. It struck at a depth of about 25 km.

“If you are located in this coastal area, move inland to higher ground,” anchorage office of Emergency Management had said in a warning for Alaska and British Columbia, according to Reuters. “Tsunami warnings mean that a tsunami with significant inundation is possible or is already occurring.”

The US National Weather Service sent out an alert to many people warning them to take shelter on higher ground.

“Based on all available data, a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had said.