Deep below Anchorage, some thirty miles, the earth’s plate are shifting. A 7.0 magnitude quake struck this morning, resulting in serious damage. The shaking was felt as far as 400 miles from the epicenter. After the initial tremors, there have been 30 aftershocks. Images and video from the affected area show extensive damage.
Hope everyone is OK. This my wife, son & dogs inside during the #earthquake in Palmer, AK. I felt it in Fairbanks. Just broken stuff at our house. #Wyze pic.twitter.com/LMP7U5FJxR
— Eric Nelius (@AlaskaTugboater) November 30, 2018
“It felt like it took several minutes to register what was going on,” Melissa Lohr told CNN. “It felt like my car was uncontrollably sliding left and right and I just didn’t understand because it was going perfectly fine up until then. It felt like the ground was gonna open up underneath you,” Lohr said.
To the Great people of Alaska. You have been hit hard by a “big one.” Please follow the directions of the highly trained professionals who are there to help you. Your Federal Government will spare no expense. God Bless you ALL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2018
As soon as the quake began, residents were advised to more to higher ground. This area is historically prone to tsunamis that result from quakes. As the epicenter was deep, the threat of tidal waves is much lower and the tsunami warnings have since been called off.
From Alaska Earthquake. The Wasilla. – This is on Vine Road in Wasilla Alaska (From a guy named Trevor) I do not own images, just sharing the impact the quake caused. Here is LINK to facebook post: https://t.co/Dsx1am1HCu pic.twitter.com/faEaC3UE19
— Pamela J. Peters (@NavajoFilmmaker) November 30, 2018
This area of Alaska doesn’t see much sunlight at this time of year. That is making matters worse for nearly 10,000 residents who are now without power as a result of the quake.
And the damage to the roads and infrastructure is extensive. Some of the early images show some rifts in the ground that tore apart roadways.
“I have been here 37 years and that was the most violent earthquake I have ever felt. It was absolutely terrifying,” Kristin Dossett, a resident of Palmer, Alaska, told CNN.
“It shook like I have never felt anything shake before. It just didn’t stop. It kept going and got louder and louder, and things just fell everywhere — everything off my dressers, off my bookcases, my kitchen cupboard. Just broken glass everywhere.”
While the 7.0 magnitude quake is large, this one is deep. That has some experts hoping that the infrastructure damage won’t be as severe as it has been with other Alaskan quakes.
Some Alaskans remember the big quake of 1964. “The biggest earthquake that has hit Alaska was a 9.2 magnitude giant in March 1964,” CNN writes, “an interface thrust faulting earthquake that ruptured over several hundred kilometers between Anchorage and the Alaska-Aleutians trench, and to the southwest.”
This is footage from that quake:
This story is still developing. As power is restored and more of the local news services resume their broadcasts, much more information about the damage caused by the quake and the condition of the residents will become known.