Strong earthquake jolts Anchorage, but damage minimal
Originally published Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:19 p.m.
Updated Monday, June 22, 2009 at 4:32 p.m.
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Stumble It!ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A strong earthquake jolted a swath of Southcentral Alaska on Monday, sending people diving under desks and huddling in doorways but causing little damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 5.4 magnitude tremor struck about 24 miles from the town of Willow at 11:28 a.m. The rumbling lasted several moments in Anchorage, 58 miles from the epicenter, and was felt as far south as Kenai and north to Fairbanks, a span of 300 miles.
"Things were swinging pretty good and shaking, like pictures on the wall, bottles rattling - and my blood pressure went up at least 20 points," said Pam Rannals, a bartender in Talkeetna, about 30 miles from the epicenter. "We had bears in the parking lot last night and now the earthquake. Those are the talk of the town."
No damage other than fallen dishes has been reported anywhere, and Rannals said even the liquor bottles at her workplace stayed put.
Gov. Sarah Palin noted the earthquake on her Twitter account. "All shook up ... thankful there are no reports of injury or damage," she wrote.
Two unrelated quakes measuring 5.6 and 5.4 struck a short while later in Alaska's remote western Aleutian Islands more than 1,000 miles to the southwest. There were no reports those were felt or caused any damage, said Natasha Ruppert, a seismologist at the Alaska Earthquake Information Center.
The quake near Willow was 26 miles deep, a reason for both the minimal damage and the vast area over which it was felt, according to Janet Herr, an employee fielding many of the calls residents were making to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. Southcentral Alaska is the most populated region of the vast state.
The tsunami center reported the magnitude at a slightly weaker 5.3 and said no tsunami was generated. Aftershocks were shaking the area, with one around noon measuring 4.0.
The earthquake was 70 miles west of the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline and operations were not affected, said Katie Pesznecker, a spokeswoman for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which runs the line. The pipeline, which carries about 715,000 barrels of crude daily, is designed to withstand magnitudes as high as 8.5, Pesznecker said.
Alaska is seismically active, and has frequent earthquakes although most are too small or too remote to be felt. The last one that measured stronger was a 5.8 in southern Alaska on Jan. 24.
Still, Monday's widely felt earthquake was enough to force a nervous pause among many residents, including workers in the Anchorage office of the National Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit conservation group. Even the office dog, Oliver, trembled and looked around, his tail wagging slowly. Office manager Heather McGee watched as her cup of tea shook near her keyboard.
"I'm unscathed, but my tea spilled," she said.
The earthquake and its aftershocks had nothing to do with Mount Redoubt, Alaska's most active volcano with a series of explosions earlier this year. Dave Schneider, a geophysicist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, said the volcano's seismic instruments more than 100 miles from the epicenter picked up the temblors, which he enjoyed from his Anchorage office.
"I thought it was kind of fun, but I'm like that," he said.
Community Discussion
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Didn't feel a thing here in Fairbanks.
Heard this on KFAR radio (Fox news) on their 11:30am news. What's up with that? I even sent you a copy of the Fox news update. Guess better late than never, huh?
I felt here in downtown Fairbanks--it made my colleague's office door swing back and forth.
Huh? "Alaska’s urban centers" would be... what? Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan? And this was felt in ALL those places? Some editor missed this one, methinks.
Did anybody in The 'Banks really feel this? I've been asking everybody and no one else did, so fair only Dunton_Peabody...
Thought I was having an episode of vertigo, until my boss walked out of his office asking if anyone else could feel the building sway.
4th floor of an office building really feels weird during a quake. Not the rumble you'd expect in your house!
-RK
They better be sure it was in Willow and not Bristol (Bay).
hey people don't be picking on the editor he is probably in denver with owners helping to run our newspaper. he made a small mistake but that is all right because this is the only newspaper until the anchorage one or the one from delta starts deleivering in fairbanks.
More than likely, if you felt anything in Fairbanks it was from separate tremors (near Fairbanks) at the same time. Or a big truck driving by.
i felt it
in fbks
There have been several reports of people in upper floors of buildings downtown having felt this quake that've come in to AEIC.
felt it and heard it's rumbling. Company felt it also.
I live on Davis Road near Peger and never felt a thing. I just moved here about 2 years ago, and have only felt tremors once; native Fairbanksans say that tremors happen frequently here. Can someone direct me to any links dealing with emergency notification, shelters, radio and TV info, and the like? Thanks.
My wife asked me if I felt the house move at about that time. I felt nothing. So she assumed it must have been the baby kicking. I think she felt it. She's felt allot of them in the past that I haven't.
ktsue,
The Alaska Earthquake Information Center has lots of good info, and a downloadable PDF information booklet about earthquake preparedness in Alaska.
USGS has tons of information (type in quake.usgs.gov and look for what you want from there) including maps of recent seismic activity all over the world.
The most important thing you can do is have basic emergency kits for everyone in your family. Water, candles, matches, waterproof bags, extra meds, diapers for babies, formula if they aren't breastfed, some money, etc. It's all covered in the emergency preparedness info.
The really big issue is water.
ktsue: Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
http://www.ak-prepared.com/
I definitely felt it and checked the earthquake site for interior earthquakes, but none were reported. I didn't think of looking for quakes that were that far south! I am also on the third floor of a downtown office building, so the swaying effects were made more noticeable. It’s good to know there actually was an earthquake, and I wasn’t going crazy. I knew I didn’t hear a big truck passing by . . .
I was on the 2nd floor downtown and I thought it was a big truck too, no one else mentioned it but I felt vibrations....weird. WOuldn't have thought about it again til now...thanks!
Yeah! I was like driving and like all the sudden the like whole car like shook and I went flying into the......you are all lying. No one felt this in Fairbanks.
Wow..I was driving in Anchorage at that time! I don't think I felt anything though..maybe the road was too bumpy..
Yeah, I noticed it this morning, and I noticed it felt a little different than the kind we've been having up here. Felt almost like a wave quake. I too didn't suspect it was related to a quake elsewhere!
Thanks to mamabear and out_in_the_cold for answering my question. As I think I have mentioned before, in other postings, I come from Michigan, which doesn't seem to have much seismic activity going on. Gee, between the extreme cold winters, earthquake activity, and the like, living here is going to be a lot more challenging than I thought when I was recruited to move here! You folks must be some tough, hardy people! You have my admiration and respect.
Hahaha! Here I am in Willow, and I didn't feel a thing. I was actually putting my dogs in my vehicle, and leaving the house when it occured. Probably a good thing!
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