Wednesday's magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Alaska's Aleutian Islands chain struck in a region that has experienced a handful of powerful quakes within the last five years.

A major earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 initially triggered a tsunami warning for the southern Alaska Peninsula. It was later downgraded to an advisory.

The quake that struck Alaska’s southern coast on Wednesday, July 16 is part of a larger sequence that may continue to unfold in destructive ways.