An 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Alaskan Peninsula Wednesday, according to the American Institute of Geophysics, prompting US authorities to issue a tsunami warning.

The earthquake struck at 22:15 on Wednesday (0615 GMT Thursday), 91 kilometers southeast of the city of Perryville, according to the American Institute. The tsunami warning is for the southern coast of the state as well as the Alaskan Peninsula.

In a statement, the US tsunami warning system warned of the possibility of "dangerous tsunamis" along some coasts.

Tsunami sirens were heard on Kodiak, an island of 6,000 people off the coast of Alaska.

Perryville is located 800 km from Anchorage, Alaska's largest city.

Videos posted by residents and journalists from the island on social media showed residents moving away from the beaches while sirens sounded.

A tsunami warning was issued in October 2020 after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake off the coast of this US state, but no large waves were detected. The earthquake at that time did not result in casualties or serious damage in a very isolated and sparsely populated area.

Alaska is located above the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area where tectonic plates meet, and the friction of which leads to strong seismic and volcanic activity. This area extends from the Gulf of Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

On March 27, 1964, an earthquake measuring 9.2 struck the Anchorage region, the most powerful ever recorded in the United States and the world at large.

The earthquake lasted for several minutes on that day and caused a devastating tsunami that swept the entire length of the American West Coast, killing more than 250 people.