On Tuesday, January 23 at 12:31 a.m, Alaskans were awoken by a 7.9 earthquake. The earthquake occurred 170 miles southeast of Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska. Kodiak Island was the closest inhabited land to the epicenter of the earthquake and no severe damage was found. Had Alaskans not been roused by the rumbling of the earthquake, they soon would have been by blaring tsunami sirens.

After receiving a government issued text reading, “Emergency Alert. Tsunami danger on the coast. Go to high ground or move inland. Listen to local news,” Alaskans who lived in coastal towns retreated to higher ground. Some citizens took refuge in schools which had been turned into emergency shelters.

Alaska was not the only state put into a flurry. Washington state, Oregon, California and Hawaii were also put under tsunami watches. According to the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center, U.S. west coast states are likely to see waves six hours after the initial earthquake.

In British Columbia, Canada, sirens continued to blare as city officials went from house to house waking up its citizens. Fire trucks also went around neighborhoods honking their horns and used speakers to warn citizens of the anticipated natural disaster.

Three hours after the initial tsunami warnings and watches went out, it was canceled by the National Tsunami Center. Due to the 9.2 earthquake which took place in 1964 a little over 75 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska, citizens were prepared to take shelter. Heather Rand, a native to Anchorage, Alaska, told CNN, “It was a very long, slow build up. Creepy, more than anything. Definitely the longest, and I was born here.”