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A major 7.0 magnitude earthquake has struck Alaska, causing people to run from buildings and briefly prompting a tsunami alert for coastal areas, BBC reports.

The quake was centred about seven miles (11km) north of Anchorage, the largest city in the state, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

A series of aftershocks was recorded following the initial shock, which had a depth of 40.9km, the USGS said.

Around 300,000 people live in Anchorage with 100,000 in the surrounding area.

The earthquake was reported at 08.29 local time (17.29 GMT), the USGS added. One of the more powerful aftershocks that followed minutes later had a magnitude of 5.7.

So far, officials have registered 40 aftershocks: 10 with magnitudes above 4.0 and three with magnitudes above 5.0, the Alaska Earthquake Center reported.

"The aftershocks are nerve-wracking, but we want to stress that they are what we would expect for an earthquake like this," the centre said in a tweet.

The quake was picked up by seismometers across the country in Boston, thousands of miles away.

A tsunami warning issued for the Cook Inlet and southern Kenai Peninsula regions was later cancelled.

Alaska's Governor Bill Walker has issued a declaration of disaster.