Caused by global warming or fracking?
Southcentral Alaska was rocked by a strong and prolonged magnitude-7.1 earthquake early Sunday morning.
The quake struck 86 miles west-southwest of Anchor Point at 1:30 a.m. Alaska time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Alaska Earthquake Center said it hit on the west side of Cook Inlet, about 65 miles west of the Kenai Peninsula town of Homer and about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage.
The quake knocked items off shelves and walls and shook buildings throughout the region. A series of aftershocks followed, including a magnitude 4.7 that struck about four hours after the initial quake and could be felt again in Anchorage.
There were no immediate reports of injuries. Isolated power outages were reported throughout the region.
According to the National Weather Service, the quake was not expected to generate a tsunami.
The Anchorage Fire Department reported it was “very busy with reports of gas odors, alarm systems sounding, broken water lines, etc.” in the wake of the earthquake. The Anchorage Police Department said shortly after 2 a.m. that it had not received any reports of major damage.
On the Kenai Peninsula, some damage was being reported, as Shannon McCarthy, with the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, said Kalifornsky Beach Road was closed in the Kasilof area Sunday morning due to a crack in the road.
“There is a crack in the road and DOT’s on the scene right now,” McCarthy said.
Andrew Sayers, 26, of Kasilof was watching television when the quake struck.
“The house started to shake violently. The TV we were watching fell over, stuff fell off the walls,” he said. “Dishes were crashing, and we sprinted toward the doorway.”
Later, he was driving to his mother’s home when he came across the stretch of K-Beach Road that was damaged in the quake.