6.1 quake strikes Alaska's Aleutian chain
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday off the western end of Alaska's Aleutian Islands chain, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake occurred shortly after 9 a.m. local time about 21 miles northwest of Attu, the farthest U.S.-owned island in the Aleutians and the western-most point of the United States. No tsunami warnings were issued in connection with the tremor. At nearly 1,000 miles west of the Alaska mainland, Attu is situated so far west in the Pacific relative to North America that it lies in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Attu, scene of the only land battle fought on U.S. territory during World War Two, also was the site of a U.S. Coast Guard station for decades, until the facility closed last year. The island is currently uninhabited. Earthquakes of that magnitude are relative common in the seismically active Aleutian chain, but they pose little or no threat since they are so far from densely populated areas.