6.1 quake rattles Alaskan peninsula

A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Alaskan peninsula 970 kilometres southwest of Anchorage, says the US Geological Survey.

The temblor struck at 1959 GMT, with the epicentre near Sand Point, Alaska, on an island in the North Pacific just off the Alaska Peninsula, USGS said.

The depth of the quake was 48 kilometres.

It came some three weeks after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Alaska's Aleutian Islands, triggering a tsunami warning that sent people heading for high ground before the alert was cancelled.