This weekend has shaken the state of Alaska. There have been more than 190 earthquakes in parts of Alaska since Friday. A 7.0-magnitude tremor knocked out power, ripped open roads and splintered buildings near Anchorage.
“These numbers can change by the minute, people can be expected to feel aftershocks for some time,” Seismologist Randy Baldwin told CNN. He noted that while they are described as aftershocks, they are still considered earthquakes.
The magnitude-7.0 earthquake caused residents to run for cover when it hit about 8:30 a.m. Friday local time 10 miles northeast of Anchorage.
“It was very loud when it came,” Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz said. “It was very clear that this was something bigger than what we normally experience. We live in earthquake country … but this was a big one.”
There are roads that have buckled under passing cars and many products in grocery stores have fallen from shelves.
While in court, attorneys had to run for cover under tables as the room rocked from side to side.
“It was absolutely terrifying,” Palmer resident Kristin Dossett told CNN.
It was the biggest quake she has felt in her 37 years in a region where temblors are common, Dossett said.
“It shook like I have never felt anything shake before,” she said.
“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.” One of the after shocks actually moved her piano a foot and a half from the wall.
Despite the truama, Anchorage authorities said Friday night that no fatalities or serious injuries were reported.
Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration as the US Geological Survey reported dozens of aftershocks. The largest, registering 5.7, was in the city of Anchorage.
Seismologists predicted many more in the coming days and weeks.
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