Washington, June 3: A major earthquake of magnitude 6.9 hits Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Friday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The epicentre of the quake, although strong and shallow was located at a depth of 4.3 km, in the Bering Sea about 205 km northwest of Attu Station, in the Aleutians West Census Area, Xinhua reported.

As the island had a population of 21, consisting entirely of coast guard personnel, according to the 2010 US census, the USGS estimated both potential fatalities and economic losses to be unlikely.

 Wefornews Bureau