Alaska Rocked by 7.0 Quake – Roads Damaged, Tsunami Warning Canceled
Alaska was rocked by a 7.0 quake on Friday. The tremblor did a significant amount of damage to the roads, broke windows and severely damaged structures, but there are no reports of major injuries as yet. The quake struck at 8:29 a.m. local time about 7 miles north of Anchorage on Friday morning.
One resident reported being thrown out of his bathtub by the sloshing.
‘It Was Anarchy,’ Alaska Resident Says 7.0 Quake Broke Everything, Threw Him Out of Bathtub https://t.co/3M2vMvVaHt
— Erin Brinker (@erinsongbird) November 30, 2018
Residents on Kodiak Island were advised to seek high ground, as a tsunami warning was issued. The warning was cancelled later, but that doesn’t mean there was no damage.
Here are some of the photos turned into Last Frontier Magazine on Facebook by victims:
Road damage on Glenn highway near Thunderbird Falls
The road to the Anchorage International airport
Also the road to the Airport in Anchorage
According to one resident who sent an email to us, the roads are nearly nonexistent, all power and phones are out in most areas. Many of the residents have no money to get gas at $4 per gallon, and of course their tanks weren’t filled up when the quake hit. Most of the residents were at work when the quake struck, so now communication between families is an issue.
Authorities advised folks to stay with friends who have a heating source, and the city is working on creating shelters for residents. The roads can’t be fixed quickly, obviously, so something will have to be done to mitigate the buckled roadways. Gov Bill Walker has declared a major disaster in order to access emergency funds.
Authorities are also advising people that if they see structural cracks on their homes or smell gas to evacuate immediately.
The Anchorage Daily News reported,
As of 10 a.m., fire officials reported three working fires, as well as two collapsed buildings, though Hettrick didn’t immediately have further details.
Officials with the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility also reported numerous pipe breaks throughout the city.
Police Chief Justin Doll said police immediately started checking damage after the earthquake hit. He said Alaska State Troopers were beginning aerial damage surveys. Police were being stationed throughout the city to collect reports, Doll said.
All Alaska Railroad operations are shut down due to severe damage at the railroad’s Anchorage Operations Center on Ship Creek, including the dispatch center, according to spokesman Tim Sullivan. The center is closed by flooding from burst pipes and the power is out.
No trains were running when the quake hit, but service can’t resume until crews assess damage, Sullivan said. It will be a day or two before that happens.
TAPS was shutdown at 8:34 a.m. following an earthquake in Southcentral Alaska. There are no known injuries or damages reported at this time – the system was shut down as a precaution. Crews have been dispatched to conduct surveillance and assess the system for possible damage.
— Alyeska Pipeline (@AlyeskaPipeline) November 30, 2018
Featured Photo: Road damage near Wasilla.
