ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Aftershocks continue to rattle residents of Alaska’s largest city two months after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake caused damage in and around the Anchorage area.

The Alaska Earthquake Center says the latest aftershock occurred just after 11 a.m. Wednesday. The magnitude 4.1 temblor was located about 14 northwest of Anchorage and was recorded at a depth of about 24 miles.

It was felt in the great Anchorage area, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The centre confirmed it was an aftershock of the larger quake on Nov. 30. </s> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Chris Riekena was driving his 7-year-old son to school when his car started acting up. As he pulled over, he realized the problem wasn't his car — it was a huge earthquake.

Riekena turned around to calm his son in the back seat and when he looked forward again, the road ahead of him was sinking into the earth. He pulled his son out of the car as light poles along the road swayed in the air.

By the time the shaking stopped Friday, the car just in front of his on the freeway was marooned on an island of asphalt with a huge chasm on both sides.

"It was probably a good 30 to 40 seconds of slow-motion disaster," said Riekena, an engineer with the Alaska Department of Transportation who later returned to the site for his job.

"Thankfully I pulled over when I did," he said. "I've walked around the site enough over the last few hours that I've replayed that a few times."

Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 shattered highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage and the surrounding area, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a tsunami warning for islands and coastal areas south of the city.

No tsunami arrived and there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 7 miles (12 kilometers) north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, with a population of about 300,000. People ran from their offices or took cover under desks. The 5.7 aftershock arrived within minutes, followed by a series of smaller quakes.

"We just hung onto each other. You couldn't even stand," said Sheila Bailey, who was working at a high school cafeteria in Palmer, about 45 miles from Anchorage, when the quake struck. "It sounded and felt like the school was breaking apart."

Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said he had been told that parts of Glenn Highway, a scenic route that runs northeast out of the city past farms, mountains and glaciers, had "completely disappeared."

The quake broke store windows, knocked items off shelves, opened cracks in a two-story building downtown, disrupted electrical service and disabled traffic lights, snarling traffic.

Flights at the airport were suspended for hours after the quake knocked out telephones and forced the evacuation of the control tower. And the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline was shut down for hours while crews were sent to inspect it for damage.

Anchorage's school system canceled classes and asked parents to pick up their children while it examined buildings for gas leaks or other damage.

Jonathan Lettow was waiting with his 5-year-old daughter and other children for a school bus near their home in Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage, when the quake struck. The children got on the ground in a circle while Lettow tried to keep them calm and watched for falling trees.

"It's one of those things where in your head, you think, 'OK, it's going to stop,' and you say that to yourself so many times in your head that finally you think, 'OK, maybe this isn't going to stop,'" he said.

Soon after the shaking ended, the school bus pulled up and the children boarded, but the driver stopped at a bridge and refused to go across because of deep cracks in the road, he said.

Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration. He was in an elevator in a high-rise Anchorage office building and said it was a "rough ride" coming down. He described the quake as a 7.2, though it was unclear why his figure differed from that of the USGS.

Walker says it will take more than a week or two to repair roads damaged by the earthquake.

"This is much more significant than that," he told reporters at a news conference.

In Kenai, southwest of Anchorage, Brandon Slaton was soaking in his bathtub when the earthquake struck. The temblor created a powerful back-and-forth sloshing that threw him out of the tub, he said.

His 120-pound mastiff panicked and tried to run down the stairs, but the house was swaying so much that the dog was thrown into a wall and tumbled down the stairs, Slaton said.

Slaton ran into his son's room after the shaking stopped. The boy's fish was on the floor, gasping, its tank shattered. Slaton put the fish in a bowl.

"It was anarchy," he said. "There's no pictures left on the walls, there's no power, there's no fish tank left. Everything that's not tied down is broke."

Alaska was the site of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the U.S. The 9.2-magnitude quake on March 27, 1964, was centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Anchorage. It and the tsunami it triggered claimed about 130 lives.

The state averages 40,000 earthquakes a year, with more large quakes than the 49 other states combined. Southern Alaska has a high risk of earthquakes because the Earth's plates slide past each other under the region.

Alaska has been hit by a number of powerful quakes over 7.0 in recent decades, including a 7.9 last January southeast of Kodiak Island. But it is rare for a quake this big to strike so close to such a heavily populated area.

David Harper was getting coffee at a store when the low rumble began and intensified into something that sounded "like the building was just going to fall apart." He ran for the exit with other patrons.

"People who were outside were actively hugging each other," he said. "You could tell that it was a bad one."

Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; Mark Thiessen in Anchorage; Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Oregon; Gene Johnson in Seattle; Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report. </s> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Chris Riekena was driving his 7-year-old son to school when his car started acting up. As he pulled over, he realized the problem wasn't his car - it was a huge earthquake.

Riekena turned around to calm his son in the back seat and when he looked forward again, the road ahead of him was sinking into the earth. He pulled his son out of the car as light poles along the road swayed in the air.

By the time the shaking stopped Friday, the car just in front of his on the freeway was marooned on an island of asphalt with a huge chasm on both sides.

"It was probably a good 30 to 40 seconds of slow-motion disaster," said Riekena, an engineer with the Alaska Department of Transportation who later returned to the site for his job.

"Thankfully I pulled over when I did," he said. "I've walked around the site enough over the last few hours that I've replayed that a few times."

Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 shattered highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage and the surrounding area, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a tsunami warning for islands and coastal areas south of the city.

No tsunami arrived and there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 7 miles (12 kilometers) north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, with a population of about 300,000. People ran from their offices or took cover under desks. The 5.7 aftershock arrived within minutes, followed by a series of smaller quakes.

"We just hung onto each other. You couldn't even stand," said Sheila Bailey, who was working at a high school cafeteria in Palmer, about 45 miles from Anchorage, when the quake struck. "It sounded and felt like the school was breaking apart."

Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said he had been told that parts of Glenn Highway, a scenic route that runs northeast out of the city past farms, mountains and glaciers, had "completely disappeared."

The quake broke store windows, knocked items off shelves, opened cracks in a two-story building downtown, disrupted electrical service and disabled traffic lights, snarling traffic.

Flights at the airport were suspended for hours after the quake knocked out telephones and forced the evacuation of the control tower. And the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline was shut down for hours while crews were sent to inspect it for damage.

Anchorage's school system canceled classes and asked parents to pick up their children while it examined buildings for gas leaks or other damage.

Jonathan Lettow was waiting with his 5-year-old daughter and other children for a school bus near their home in Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage, when the quake struck. The children got on the ground in a circle while Lettow tried to keep them calm and watched for falling trees.

"It's one of those things where in your head, you think, 'OK, it's going to stop,' and you say that to yourself so many times in your head that finally you think, 'OK, maybe this isn't going to stop,'" he said.

Soon after the shaking ended, the school bus pulled up and the children boarded, but the driver stopped at a bridge and refused to go across because of deep cracks in the road, he said.

Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration. He was in an elevator in a high-rise Anchorage office building and said it was a "rough ride" coming down. He described the quake as a 7.2, though it was unclear why his figure differed from that of the USGS.

Walker says it will take more than a week or two to repair roads damaged by the earthquake.

"This is much more significant than that," he told reporters at a news conference.

In Kenai, southwest of Anchorage, Brandon Slaton was soaking in his bathtub when the earthquake struck. The temblor created a powerful back-and-forth sloshing that threw him out of the tub, he said.

His 120-pound mastiff panicked and tried to run down the stairs, but the house was swaying so much that the dog was thrown into a wall and tumbled down the stairs, Slaton said.

Slaton ran into his son's room after the shaking stopped. The boy's fish was on the floor, gasping, its tank shattered. Slaton put the fish in a bowl.

"It was anarchy," he said. "There's no pictures left on the walls, there's no power, there's no fish tank left. Everything that's not tied down is broke."

Alaska was the site of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the U.S. The 9.2-magnitude quake on March 27, 1964, was centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Anchorage. It and the tsunami it triggered claimed about 130 lives.

The state averages 40,000 earthquakes a year, with more large quakes than the 49 other states combined. Southern Alaska has a high risk of earthquakes because the Earth's plates slide past each other under the region.

Alaska has been hit by a number of powerful quakes over 7.0 in recent decades, including a 7.9 last January southeast of Kodiak Island. But it is rare for a quake this big to strike so close to such a heavily populated area.

David Harper was getting coffee at a store when the low rumble began and intensified into something that sounded "like the building was just going to fall apart." He ran for the exit with other patrons.

"People who were outside were actively hugging each other," he said. "You could tell that it was a bad one."

Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; Mark Thiessen in Anchorage; Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Oregon; Gene Johnson in Seattle; Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report. </s> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 shattered highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage and the surrounding area, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a tsunami warning for islands and coastal areas south of the city.

No tsunami arrived and there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 7 miles (12 kilometers) north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, with a population of about 300,000. People ran from their offices or took cover under desks. The 5.7 aftershock arrived within minutes, followed by a series of smaller quakes.

"We just hung onto each other. You couldn't even stand," said Sheila Bailey, who was working at a high school cafeteria in Palmer when the quake struck. "It sounded and felt like the school was breaking apart."

A large section of an off-ramp near the Anchorage airport collapsed, marooning a car on a narrow island of pavement surrounded by deep chasms in the concrete. Several cars crashed at a major intersection in Wasilla, north of Anchorage, during the shaking.

Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said he had been told that parts of Glenn Highway, a scenic route that runs northeast out of the city past farms, mountains and glaciers, had "completely disappeared." Traffic in the three lanes heading out of the city was bumper-to-bumper and all but stopped Friday afternoon as emergency vehicles passed on the shoulder.

The quake broke store windows, knocked items off shelves, opened cracks in a two-story, downtown building, disrupted electrical service and disabled traffic lights, snarling traffic. It also threw a full-grown man out of his bathtub.

Flights at the airport were suspended for hours after the quake knocked out telephones and forced the evacuation of the control tower. And the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline was shut down while crews were sent to inspect it for damage.

Anchorage's school system canceled classes and asked parents to pick up their children while it examined buildings for gas leaks or other damage.

Fifteen-year-old Sadie Blake and other members of the Homer High School wrestling team were at an Anchorage school gymnasium for a tournament when the bleachers started rocking and the lights went out. People started running down the bleachers in the dark, trying to get out.

"It was a gym full of screams," said team chaperone Ginny Grimes.

When it was over, Sadie said, there was only one thing she could do: "I started crying."

Jonathan Lettow was waiting with his 5-year-old daughter and other children for a school bus near their home in Wasilla when the quake struck. The children got on the ground while Lettow tried to keep them calm.

"It's one of those things where in your head, you think, 'OK, it's going to stop,' and you say that to yourself so many times in your head that finally you think, 'OK, maybe this isn't going to stop,'" he said.

Soon after the shaking ended, the school bus pulled up and the children boarded, but the driver stopped at a bridge and refused to go across because of deep cracks in the road, Lettow said.

At Chugiak High School, acting principal Allison Susel said ceiling tiles came down, books and other items fell from shelves, and water line breaks caused damage.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tweeted that her home was damaged: "Our family is intact — house is not. I imagine that's the case for many, many others." She posted a video of the inside of her parents' home, with broken dishes littering the kitchen floor. A large set of antlers appeared to have fallen off a wall of the living room.

Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration. He was in an elevator in a high-rise Anchorage office building and said it was a "rough ride" coming down. He described the quake as a 7.2, though it was unclear why his figure differed from that of the USGS.

Walker says it will take more than a week or two to repair roads damaged by the earthquake.

"This is much more significant than that," he told reporters at a news conference.

Walker leaves office on Monday, and he said members of Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy's staff had been involved with the earthquake response to ensure a smooth transition.

"This isn't a time to do anything other than take care of Alaskans, and that's what we're doing," he said.

In Kenai, southwest of Anchorage, Brandon Slaton was home alone and soaking in his bathtub when the earthquake struck. Slaton, who weighs 209 pounds, said it created a powerful back-and-forth sloshing that threw him out of the tub.

His 120-pound mastiff panicked and tried to run down the stairs, but the house was swaying so much that the dog was thrown into a wall and tumbled down the stairs, Slaton said.

Slaton ran into his son's room after the shaking stopped. The boy's fish was on the floor, gasping, its tank shattered. Slaton put the fish in a bowl.

"It was anarchy," he said. "There's no pictures left on the walls, there's no power, there's no fish tank left. Everything that's not tied down is broke."

Alaska was the site of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the U.S. The 9.2-magnitude quake on March 27, 1964, was centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Anchorage. It and the tsunami it triggered claimed about 130 lives.

The state averages 40,000 earthquakes a year, with more large quakes than the 49 other states combined. Southern Alaska has a high risk of earthquakes because the Earth's plates slide past each other under the region.

Alaska has been hit by a number of powerful quakes over 7.0 in recent decades, including a 7.9 last January southeast of Kodiak Island. But it is rare for a quake this big to strike so close to such a heavily populated area.

David Harper was getting coffee at a store when the low rumble began and intensified into something that sounded "like the building was just going to fall apart." He ran for the exit with other patrons.

"People who were outside were actively hugging each other," he said. "You could tell that it was a bad one."

Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; Mark Thiessen in Anchorage; Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Gene Johnson in Seattle; Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Oregon; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report. </s> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 shattered highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a warning to residents in Kodiak to flee to higher ground for fear of a tsunami.

 

 The warning was lifted without incident a short time later. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or serious injuries.

 

 The U.S. Geological Survey said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 7 miles (12 kilometers) north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, with a population of about 300,000. People ran from their offices or took cover under desks.

 

 "We just hung onto each other. You couldn't even stand," said Sheila Bailey, who was working at a high school cafeteria in Palmer when the quake struck. "It sounded and felt like the school was breaking apart."

 

 A large section of an off-ramp near the Anchorage airport collapsed, marooning a car on a narrow island of pavement surrounded by deep chasms in the concrete. Several cars crashed at a major intersection in Wasilla, north of Anchorage, during the shaking.

 

 Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said he had been told that parts of Glenn Highway, a scenic route that runs northeast out of the city past farms, mountains and glaciers, had "completely disappeared."

 

 The quake broke store windows, opened cracks in a two-story building downtown, disrupted electrical service and disabled traffic lights, snarling traffic. It also threw a full-grown man out of his bathtub.

 

 All flights in and out of the airport were suspended for hours after the quake knocked out telephones and forced the evacuation of the control tower. And the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline was shut down while crews were sent to inspect it for damage.

 

 Anchorage's school system canceled classes and asked parents to pick up their children while it examined buildings for gas leaks or other damage.

 

 Fifteen-year-old Sadie Blake and other members of the Homer High School wrestling team were at an Anchorage school gymnasium waiting for a tournament to start when the bleachers started rocking "like crazy" and the lights went out. People started running down the bleachers in the dark, trying to get out.

 

 "It was a gym full of screams," said team chaperone Ginny Grimes.

 

 When it was over, Sadie said, there was only one thing she could do: "I started crying."

 

 Jonathan Lettow was waiting with his 5-year-old daughter and other children for a school bus near their home in Wasilla when the quake struck. The children got on the ground while Lettow tried to keep them calm.

 

 "It's one of those things where in your head, you think, 'OK, it's going to stop,' and you say that to yourself so many times in your head that finally you think, 'OK, maybe this isn't going to stop,'" he said.

 

 Soon after the shaking stopped, the school bus pulled up and children boarded, but the driver stopped at a bridge and refused to go across because of deep cracks in the road, Lettow said.

 

 Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tweeted that her home was damaged: "Our family is intact - house is not. I imagine that's the case for many, many others." She posted a video of the inside of her parents' home, with broken dishes littering the kitchen floor. A large set of antlers appeared to have fallen off a wall of the living room.

 

 Officials opened an Anchorage convention center as an emergency shelter. Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration.

 

 He said he was in an office building elevator when the earthquake hit. Lights on the control board were blinking and things were falling from the ceiling, but the elevator did not stop, he said.

 

 Cereal boxes and packages of batteries littered the floor of a grocery store, and picture frames and mirrors were knocked from living room walls.

 

 People went back inside after the first earthquake struck, but the 5.7 aftershock about five minutes later sent them running back into the streets. A series of smaller aftershocks followed.

 

 A tsunami warning was issued along Alaska's southern coast. Police in Kodiak, a city of 6,100 people on Kodiak Island, 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Anchorage). People were told to evacuate to higher ground immediately because a wave could hit within about 10 minutes.

 

 Michael Burgy, a senior technician with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said the warning was automatically generated based on the quake's size and proximity to shore. Scientists monitored gauges to see if the quake generated big waves. Because there were none, they canceled the warning within about an hour and a half.

 

 In Kenai, southwest of Anchorage, Brandon Slaton was alone at home and soaking in the bathtub when the earthquake struck. Slaton, who weighs 209 pounds, said it created a powerful back-and-forth sloshing that threw him out of the tub.

 

 His 120-pound mastiff panicked and tried to run down the stairs, but the house was swaying so much that the dog was thrown off its feet and into a wall and tumbled to the base of the stairs, Slaton said.

 

 Slaton ran into his son's room after the shaking stopped and found his fish tank shattered and the fish on the floor, gasping. He grabbed it and put it in another bowl.

 

 "It was anarchy," he said. "There's no pictures left on the walls, there's no power, there's no fish tank left. Everything that's not tied down is broke."

 

 Alaska was the site of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the U.S. The 9.2-magnitude quake on March 27, 1964, was centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Anchorage. It and the tsunami it triggered claimed about 130 lives.

 

 The state averages 40,000 earthquakes a year, with more large quakes than the 49 other states combined. Southern Alaska has a high risk of earthquakes because the Earth's plates slide past each other under the region.

 

 Alaska has been hit by a number of powerful quakes over 7.0 in recent decades, including a 7.9 last January southeast of Kodiak Island. But it is rare for a quake this big to strike so close to such a heavily populated area.

 

 David Harper was getting some coffee at a store when the low rumble began and intensified into something that sounded "like the building was just going to fall apart." He ran for the exit with other patrons.

 

 "People who were outside were actively hugging each other," he said. "You could tell that it was a bad one." </s> LOS ANGELES: A powerful earthquake rocked Anchorage on Friday (Nov 30), violently shaking homes and businesses, sending scared residents into the streets and damaging buildings in Alaska's largest city.

The 7.0-magnitude quake struck at 8.29am local time (Saturday 1.29am, Singapore time), in the middle of the school run and as workers were heading out for the day.

The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was about 13km north of Anchorage at a depth of 40km.

Police in the city of around 300,000 said it had caused "major infrastructure damage."



"Many homes and buildings are damaged," the police department said in a statement. "Many roads and bridges are closed. Stay off the roads if you don't need to drive."

There were no immediate reports of significant injuries.

A tsunami warning was issued for the Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula following the massive quake but was quickly lifted.

Residents posted pictures and videos on Twitter of damage to their homes and stores - belongings knocked off of shelves, broken windows and pictures scattered on the floor.

Local CBS affiliate KTVA posted a video of a room shaking back and forth with panels falling from the ceiling and lights flickering on and off as people hid under desks.

"Everyone just sprinted out of the coffee shop I was at in Anchorage in the middle of a huge earthquake," Nat Herz, a reporter with Alaska's Energy Desk, posted on Twitter.

"Car alarms going off, etc. But not seeing any serious damage here aside from random stuff falling over. People going back to computers, meetings," he added.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said the authorities were worried about access to power following the quake.

"It's winter. It's cold. It's dark. And we're not sure what the power situation is," Murkowski said. "We're worried about breaks in gas lines."

ENSTAR Natural Gas company warned residents to beware of gas leaks while the main water company said there had been water main breaks.

Municipal Light & Power warned of possible downed power lines and said it was seeking to restore electricity to affected customers.

About two-and-a-half hours after the quake, Municipal Light & Power said 7,000 to 10,000 customers were still without power.

The company said there was no damage to electricity generation infrastructure.

The University of Alaska announced it was closing for the day. "All non-essential personnel should go home," it said in a tweet.

Anchorage airport temporarily halted incoming and outgoing flights after the air control tower was evacuated.

In an audio recording posted online, an air traffic controller could be heard telling a FedEx cargo plane to go around - abort its landing - as the quake hit.



A video posted to Twitter showed a buckled road on a highway exit ramp leading to the airport and a stranded car.

The Anchorage School District told parents to come pick up their children "when you feel it is safe to do so."

The Trans Alaska Pipeline, one of the longest crude oil pipelines in the world, was shut down as a precautionary measure so crews could inspect the system.



White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump had been briefed about the quake and was monitoring damage reports.

"To the Great people of Alaska. You have been hit hard by a 'big one,'" Trump tweeted. "Your Federal Government will spare no expense. God Bless you ALL!"

Alaska was hit by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake in March 1964, the strongest ever recorded in North America, which left 139 people dead. </s> A 6.6 magnitude earthquake has rocked buildings in the US state of Alaska and caused lamp posts and trees to sway, prompting people to run out of offices and seek shelter under office desks.

A 6.6 magnitude earthquake has rocked buildings in the US state of Alaska and caused lamp posts and trees to sway, prompting people to run out of offices and seek shelter under office desks.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centred about seven miles north of Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage.

An Associated Press reporter working in Anchorage saw cracks in a two-storey building after the quake.

It was unclear whether there were injuries.

People went back inside buildings after the earthquake but a smaller aftershock a short time later sent them running back into the streets again.

Shortly after the quake, a tsunami warning was issued for the southern Alaska coastal areas of Cook’s Inlet and part of the Kenai peninsula.

The US Geological Survey initially said it was a 6.7 magnitude earthquake and then reduced the magnitude to 6.6. </s> Alaska is now beginning to survey the damage of powerful back-to-back earthquakes that struck the area around Anchorage on Friday, an event that resulted in damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. Speaking with reporters following the quake, Alaska Governor Bill Walker said that resulting disruption and needed repairs could last “quite some time.”

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck around 8:29 a.m. local time followed by ensuing, smaller earthquakes. Citing United States Geological Survey research geophysicist Gavin Hayes, CNN reported Saturday that “a magnitude-5.2 aftershock about 11 p.m. Friday was the second-biggest event since a magnitude-5.7 temblor hit minutes after the main quake.” Despite earthquakes being common in the area, Friday’s event was still significant.

“This is a very earthquake-prone region. Much more so than California,” climatologist Brian Brettschneider told Gizmodo by email. “That said, it’s been over 50 years since an earthquake this strong was felt in Anchorage. The good news is that most of Anchorage was built, or rebuilt, after the great 1964 Earthquake (M9.2). That means very strict building codes.”

He also noted that there were no injuries or fatalities, adding: “If you had to be in a city of over [a quarter of a million] people and have an M7 earthquake hit, this is the best place to be.”

Videos shared on social media captured widespread damage across Anchorage and the surrounding area. One video shared by Brettschneider on Twitter captured drone footage of cracks in ice at Anchorage’s Waldron Lake. According to Brettschneider, the ice was 8 inches thick.

Nat Herz, a reporter for Alaska Public Media, told NPR that he was sitting at a coffee shop in Anchorage when he “just felt like sort of a rumble or a buzz.”



“But then things kind of got louder, and things started really shaking and shaking hard. And people were kind of looking around,” he told NPR. “And then I think, you know, someone went for the door, and everyone else went for the door. And, you know, everyone kind of hurried outside. And kind of once things settled down, everyone went back in.”

At least two highways were closed down following the earthquake, with local CBS affiliate KTVA reporting that area’s Glenn Highway endured significant damage that included a “massive sinkhole.” Power losses also reportedly affected tens of thousands of people following the initial earthquake.

Governor Walker said in a phone interview Friday that there’s a possibility that some infrastructure damage could take weeks or months to repair, especially given the winter season. Walker also said he spoke with President Donald Trump, after which call KTVA reported the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved assistance for the area.

“It’s going to be a disruption for quite some time,” Walker said. “We’ve been on the phone with the White House a number of times today [and] took a call from President Trump. They talked about their desire to help us, and we appreciate that very much.”

According to Alaska Public Media, schools in the area are expected to be closed until at least Wednesday of next week. </s> (UPI) — Parts of Alaska and Canada braced for more aftershocks after two major earthquakes rattled the region on Monday.

The first earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 struck about 60 miles northwest of Haines, Alaska, and was felt across hundreds of miles of southeast Alaska and northwest Canada.

“it was a pretty good little roller,” said Tim Holm, a Haines Borough emergency medical technician, and firefighter. “It pretty much woke up the whole town.”

The second, less than two hours later, registered a magnitude of 6.3 in nearly the same location, the Alaska Earthquake Center said. No damage was reported.

There have been 13,676 earthquakes reported in Alaska this year, the AEC said.

Seismologist Natalia Ruppert put the quakes’ epicenters in British Columbia and warned “pretty strong” aftershocks are expected. The biggest recorded so far was a magnitude 4.7

Michael West, a seismologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said both earthquakes were the same magnitude as ones that killed 250 people in Italy last August.

“A 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 magnitude quake like this one, it’s scary as hell if you’re right on top of it,” he said. “People need to be respectful of a quake this size.”
More than 1,000 aftershocks shake Alaska after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake knocked out power, ripped open roads and splintered buildings in Anchorage.