The devastating 7.0 earthquake that struck near Anchorage, Alaska on Friday registered at the University of Kentucky’s seismograph, located in Sonora.
In a testament to the power of earthquakes, Friday’s quake, which did severe damage to Anchorage and surrounding area’s infrastructure, took about eight-and-a-half minutes to travel the nearly 4,000 miles to Sonora.
More than 1,000 aftershocks have shaken Alaska since the powerful earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Weather.com reports that while the majority of aftershocks were measured at magnitude 2.5 or less, about 350 small earthquakes were higher than 2.5 and around a dozen registered higher than magnitude 4.5.
The original quake’s epicenter was about eight miles north of downtown Anchorage. Fortunately, no deaths or injuries were caused by the quake.
Alaska seismologist Mike West called the massive tremor the “most significant” to rock Alaska since 1964, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Alaska records an average of 40,000 quakes every year, including more large tremors than the other 49 states combined. Anchorage is Alaska’s most populous city with about 300,000 residents, more than 40 percent of the state’s population.
(Headline photo: Vine Road, south of Wasilla, Alaska, after the 7.0 earthquake, courtesy of Weather.com)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
