On Wednesday, a strong 7.3-magnitude earthquake in southern Alaska caused widespread evacuations along the coast.

The epicenter of the earthquake, which was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey at 12:38 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. ET), was in the Pacific Ocean, close to the Alaska Peninsula and southeast of Sand Point, near the Shumagin Islands.

People from the Kennedy Entrance near Homer to Unimak Pass by Unalaska were urged to move inland or to a higher elevation by emergency notifications, which caused alarms to ring and cellphones to buzz. This prompted prompt action.

“We heard reports of bumper-to-bumper traffic early on, as people rushed to evacuate the spit,” said Rachel Lord, the mayor of Homer. Read more below