A tsunami watch was issued for the coast of Washington early Tuesday morning after an earthquake of 7.9 magnitude rocked Alaska.

Local emergency officials say they began to prepare for a tsunami immediately after the quake, but they were hampered in getting timely information by the federal government shutdown that affected the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — the agency that operates the Tsunami Warning Center.

In Ocean Shores, the Fire Department was alerted and a command team put in place, but no all-hazard warning sirens were sounded.

Ocean Shores Fire Lt. Corey Kuhl said the department’s tsunami alert was triggered at the same time the earthquake was first reported about 1:30 a.m., but getting further information “was a challenge due to government shutdown and some important sites not being up and running.” NOAA was not able to be reached.

The city of Ocean Shores then activated the Emergency Operations Center, and a Unified Incident Command Team was established under the command of the Fire Department, Kuhl said. The command team included the mayor, police chief and the Fire Department duty officers.

“Protocol was followed and preparations for possible evacuation took place,” Kuhl said, until the alert was cancelled about 4:30 a.m.

The earthquake was reported at 1:31 a.m. and located about 175 miles southeast of Kodiak City. It was recorded at a depth of 12 miles, according to the Tsunami Warning System.

The town of Adak, Alaska was evacuated after the first tsunami warning, but there were no reports of damage. The tsunami watch had included the coasts of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and southern Oregon into California.

The potential impact time was predicted to be at about 5 a.m. for a tsunami, but by then, the warning center had issued a new update that a tsunami threat was not imminent. Later, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System updated the information to “no tsunami warning, watch or threat.”

A tsunami watch is automatically declared by the Tsunami Warning Center for any earthquake magnitude 7.5 or larger (7.0 or larger in the Aleutian Islands) if the epicenter is in an area capable of generating a tsunami. Civil Defense is notified, and the local media is provided with public announcements. The center then waits for data from tide gauge stations to confirm whether or not a tsunami has been generated.

The center also requests reports on wave activity from tide-gauge stations near the earthquake epicenter. If the stations observe no tsunami activity, the tsunami watch is canceled. If the stations report that a tsunami has been generated, a tsunami warning is issued.

During a full warning, the emergency broadcast system alerts the public of the danger, and evacuation begins.