Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

A shallow earthquake of magnitude 8.2 struck the Alaska Peninsula late on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, prompting a tsunami warning.

The earthquake hit 56 miles (91 kilometres) southeast of the town of Perryville, the USGS said. There were no immediate reports on loss of property or life.

Perryville is a small village about 500 miles from Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city.

The US Tsunami Warning System said in a statement that "Hazardous tsunami waves for this earthquake are possible within the next three hours along some coasts."

In Alaska, the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) issued warnings for southern parts, the Peninsula, and Pacific coastal areas from Hinchinbrook Entrance to Unimak Pass. It also issued a "tsunami watch" for the US state of Hawaii.

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Tsunami warning sirens could be heard on Kodiak, an island with a population of about 6,000 people, along Alaska's coastline.

The quake struck at 10:15 pm Wednesday (0615 GMT Thursday).

Japan's Meteorological Agency was investigating whether there was a possibility of a tsunami hitting Japan, the public broadcaster NHK said.

Authorities in New Zealand also said they were assessing if there was any danger to coastal regions.

The US NTWC said it was evaluating the level of tsunami danger for other US and Canadian Pacific coastal areas.