A powerful earthquake rocked parts of Alaska early Friday. Preliminary reports indicate the quake was a magnitude 7.0, and was centered several miles north of Anchorage, the most populated town in the state.
There have been no reports of fatalities at this point, but damage is widespread.
Anchorage’s police department released a statement in the aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake, saying it is still operational and is “handling multiple situations.” Residents are advised to shelter in place.
Power has been partially restored at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and planes are being allowed to land, Trudy Wassel, the airport’s Marketing and Business Development Director tells CNN.
Dana Rosso, spokesperson for a military base in Alaska, told CNN, “We have recalled our senior staff into our emergency response center” to help assess if there is any damage to the installation and to help prepare should requests for assistance arrive. The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is not the only US military base in Alaska, but it is the largest. A damage assessment is currently being conducting by teams on the installation. The base is standing by to render assistance if asked by local and state officials.
CNN affiliate KTVA reports that there are multiple road closures and at least one report of an overpass that has possibly collapsed. Images across social media show cracked and collapsed roads. Scott Marsteller caught this video right outside of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport:
7.2 earthquake here in Anchorage, Alaska. This is a video my dad took from the Minnesota exit ramp from international. 😰😰 pic.twitter.com/1yOGj3yz9q
— sarah m (@sarahh_mars) November 30, 2018
KTVA’s Cassie Schirm tweeted a video showing toppled chairs and hanging metal from the TV station’s Anchorage newsroom.
More on the damage from the newsroom. #ktva #earthquakedamage #alaska #weather pic.twitter.com/pAHJZqvzJF
— Cassie Schirm (@cassieschirmtv) November 30, 2018
Philip Peterson, an Alaska resident, had been working in a multi-story in downtown Anchorage when the quake hit. “I was just working and then within a half a second, I could tell this was bigger than anything I’d been in before, and it wasn’t going to stop,” he told CNN. Peterson said the quake is “the biggest one I’ve ever been involved in.” When the quake hit, he felt “a big jolt. It sounded like a big crack, you could hear this big crack, then it just jolted back and forth. Stuff was falling off the tables, coffee mugs, lamps and ceiling tiles.” “I just jumped under my desk and had to ride it out,” Peterson said.
High school student Alyson Petrie caught this video in the midst of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska. Petrie captured this footage in an art room at Colony High School.
I’m shaking and out teachers are keeping us under our tables and telling us that there will be an after shocking maybe in 5 minutes or tomorrow we don't know I’m in the art classroom and everything is literally destroyed pic.twitter.com/i9akuWoVwD
— Alyson Petrie (@AlysonPetrie7) November 30, 2018
Former Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tweeted that her house was not intact after the quake, but did not elaborate on specific damage. “[Pray] for Alaska. Our family is intact – house is not,” she wrote. “So thankful to be safe.”
This is what happened on the 6th floor of the Nesbett Courthouse during the Anchorage #earthquake. Both attorneys jumped under their desks. Evacuated the building after the shaking stopped. pic.twitter.com/dqHGPCv6XO
— Heather Hintze (@HeatherHintze) November 30, 2018
