Huge 7.0-magnitude quake rocks Alaska, buckles roads
Tsunami warning issued and residents told to head to high ground, but later rescinded; widespread damage, no immediate reports on casualties
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked buildings Friday morning in Anchorage 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 says the earthquake was centered about 7 miles (12 kilometers) north of Alaska’s largest city.
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 warning means tsunami waves were expected and police in Alaska’s Kodiak Island community have told residents to head to higher ground amid the tsunami threat.
https://twitter.com/gbreshears/status/1068570878705713152
Kodiak is an island about 200 miles (321 kilometers) south of Anchorage.
The alert was later lifted.
An Associated Press reporter working in downtown Anchorage saw cracks in a 2-story 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.
Photographs posted to social media sites showed damage that included collapsed ceiling tiles at an Anchorage high school and buckled roadway pavement in places.
Cereal boxes and packages of batteries littered the floor of a grocery store after the earthquake Tuesday morning that rocked buildings in Alaska’s largest city, and picture frames and mirrors were knocked from living room walls.
Alaska averages 40,000 earthquakes per year, with more large quakes than the other 49 states combined.
Southern Alaska has a high risk of earthquakes due to tectonic plates sliding past each other under the region. According to the US Geological Survey, the Pacific plate is sliding northwestward and plunges beneath the North American plate in southern Alaska, the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands.
On March 27, 1964, Alaska was hit by a magnitude 9.2 earthquake, the strongest recorded in US history, centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Anchorage. The quake, which lasted about 4½ minutes, and the tsunami it triggered claimed about 130 lives.
