Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the Aleutian Islands in Alaska at 6:21 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. A local tsunami may have been generated by the quake.

The earthquake struck 235 kilometers (147 miles) west- southwest of the island of Adak, the USGS said. The epicenter was 2,132 kilometers west-southwest of Anchorage. The quake's depth was 48 kilometers.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert saying the quake may have generated a tsunami that could affect coastlines within 100 kilometers of the epicenter.

``No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data,'' the agency said.

The Aleutian Islands lie in a zone where the North American, Eurasian and Pacific plates meet. These tectonic plates constantly shift, sometimes causing earthquakes, some of them producing tsunamis. Quakes of magnitude 5 or more can cause considerable damage depending on their depth.

Original Source: Aaron Sheldrick, Bloomberg

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