The U.S. Geological Survey has reported that a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the Aleutian Islands today.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the quake was too deep to cause any risk to coastal regions.

It occurred in a seismically active region where 26 earthquakes have occurred at magnitude seven or higher on the Richter scale since 1900.

The U.S. Geological Survey states on its website that the Aleutian arc is a 3,000-kilometre long area from the Gulf of Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

"It marks the region where the Pacific plate subducts into the mantle bneath the North America plate," the website states.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, "the earthquake likely occurred within the subducting Pacific plate, several kilometers beneath the slab interface."