Communities along a 700-mile stretch of Alaska’s southern coast ordered their residents to higher ground after a powerful earthquake, but officials quickly downgraded and then canceled a tsunami warning in the area.

A lightly populated stretch of Alaska ’s southern coast was under a tsunami warning Wednesday after a strong earthquake was felt throughout the region, and officials in the Pacific Northwest were evaluating whether there was any threat to coastlines there. Early measurements put the quake’s magnitude at 7.3.

A rare tsunami warning was issued for part of Alaska’s coast after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck near Sand Point in the Aleutian Islands. A small tsunami wave was measured at Sand Point, Alaska.

A tsunami warning that was later downgraded was issued for several coastal communities after the earthquake struck south of Sand Point.

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Wednesday afternoon just south of the northern Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The epicenter was roughly 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. A tsunami warning was in effect for less than an hour, but has since expired with little signs of damage.

While the Gulf is far less prone to tsunamis than the Pacific, experts say it’s not entirely out of the question.

A tsunami warning has been issued for south Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula after a massive 7.3-magnitude earthquake, according to the National Weather Service.

Wednesday's magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Alaska's Aleutian Islands chain struck in a region that has experienced a handful of powerful quakes within the last five years.