A scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey said there is a possibility that a massive earthquake off the Alaskan coast Monday could be connected to an earthquake that struck hours earlier in New Zealand.

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck shortly after noon pacific time near the largely uninhabited Kermadex Islands, northeast of the country’s North Island.  The quake was followed by an aftershock of 6.3 minutes later.  The Alaskan quake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the Aleutian Islands shortly before 2 p.m. pacific time.

“The timing of it is such that we call the surface waves, the waves that travel around the circumference of the earth, arrived about the time the earthquake occurred,” Oppenheimer said.

However, Oppenheimer said the strength of the Alaskan quake indicates that it would have likely happened within a short time if it was not triggered by the New Zealand quake.

“There is just so much stress relieved within an earthquake of magnitude 7.9,” he said.

The Alaskan quake triggered a small tsunami with waves about half a foot high.  Seismologists attribute the low height to the 63 mile depth of the quake.

New Zealand was hit with a trio of strong quakes Tuesday morning.  Two quakes, magnitude 6.9 and 6.3, struck within minutes of each other.  The third, a 6.2 magnitude quake, struck about 45 minutes later.