Tsunami alert after 8.2 earthquake off southern Alaska

Tsunami alert after 8.2 earthquake off southern Alaska



Tinky Winky actor Simon Shelton Barnes dies aged 52



The actor who played Tinky Winky in children's TV series the Teletubbies has died.



Father-of-three Simon Shelton Barnes, 52, of Ampthill, Bedfordshire, had trained as a ballet dancer and choreographer before taking on the role in the BBC show.



Mr Barnes, whose character was known for carrying a handbag, was the brother-in-law of Poldark actor Robert Daws and uncle of Inbetweeners star Emily Atack.





Atack, who played Charlotte Hinchcliffe in the Channel 4 comedy, said on Instagram: 'My wonderful uncle Simon Barnes has been taken from us all so suddenly.



'The kindest and most talented man you could ever wish to meet. Loved by all who knew him, and will be forever.'



Mr Barnes was initially reluctant to take on the role that led to him being sent fan mail from adults as well as children and feeling like a member of The Beatles.



He once said: 'I started my career as a ballet dancer and had just started working as a choreographer. I thought it was a bit of a risky move but it certainly paid off.



'We used to receive a lot of fan mail from kids and parents. I suppose we were a bit like the Beatles or the Take That of children's television.'



Mr Barnes was not the original Tinky Winky in Teletubbies, the show which originally ran on BBC Two between 1997 and 2001.



Actor Dave Thompson, who is now a comedian, was allegedly sacked by production company Ragdoll for 'misinterpreting' the role and implying the Teletubby was gay.



Mr Barnes said the sexuality of the character was a question he was frequently asked because of Tinky Winky's penchant for hand bags.



'People always ask me if Tinky Winky is gay,' he said. 'But the character is supposed to be a three-year-old so the question is really quite silly.'





A buoy located just north-east of the epicentre reportedly recorded a 32ft wave following the earthquake.



The Anchorage Office of Emergency Management in Alaska's largest city said: 'If you are located in this coastal area, move inland to higher ground.



'Tsunami warnings mean that a tsunami with significant inundation is possible or is already occurring.'



Several people reported on social media that the quake was felt in Anchorage,  360miles away from its epicentre and out of the tsunami danger zone.





One person tweeting with the handle  @redalaska wrote: 'In Anchorage it shook for a good 2 minutes. Wasn't violent shaking, but a long rumble. Dogs sure didn't like it!'



Sandy Gottstein tweeted: '#Tsunami Woke up to long rocking in Anchorage. Got tsunami alert on the phone but later one that said we're outside of the tsunami zone.'



Anchorage resident Heather Rand  told CNN it felt like the longest earthquake she had ever experienced.



'It was a very long, slow build up. Creepy, more than anything. Definitely the longest, and I was born here,' Rand said, adding the only damage was cracks in the wall.



A tsunami watch has also been issued for the U.S. west coast - California and Oregon and part of Washington state - and Hawaii.



'Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter,' the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.



Japan's meteorological agency said it was monitoring the situation but did not issue a tsunami alert.



However, earlier today, Japan saw a volcano erupt near a popular ski resort on Mt. Kusatsu Shirane, northwest of Tokyo.



It sparked an avalanche that killed a soldier on a training mission, left fifteen people injured and dozens stranded on the mountain.



Elsewhere, the Indonesian island of Java was shook by a moderately strong earthquake, damaging hundreds of homes and seriously injuring six students at a school where a roof collapsed. 



The magnitude 6.0 quake was centered off western Java at a depth of about 43 kilometers (27 miles). The epicenter was about 153 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of Jakarta, the capital. 



Indonesia's Department of Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics said the quake didn't have the potential to generate a tsunami and no warning was issued.