Magnitude-6.8 Earthquake Hits Alaska, Jolting Nerves

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A
magnitude-6.8 earthquake knocked items off shelves and walls in
south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this
earthquake-prone region. But there were no immediate reports of
injuries.

The earthquake struck
about 1:30 a.m. Alaska time and was centered 53 miles west of Anchor
Point in the Kenai Peninsula, which is about 160 miles southwest of
Anchorage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. About two hours
later, a magnitude-4.3 aftershock hit the Cook Inlet, the agency said.

The
earthquake was widely felt by residents of Anchorage. But the Anchorage
and Valdez police departments said they have not received any reports
of injury or significant damage.

Ron Barta said his Anchorage home
shook about 1:34 a.m. when the earthquake hit. The pictures on the
walls started moving, but there was no damage to his house and no one
was hurt, said Barta, 55.

“I was sitting here with the dogs
getting ready to go to bed about 1:34 local time. … I felt a little
rumble that didn’t quit for about 30 to 45 seconds. It felt like the
house moved,” said Barta, who is married to an Associated Press
reporter.

Vincent Nusunginya, 34, of Kenai said he was at his girlfriend’s house when the earthquake hit.

“It
started out as a shaking and it seemed very much like a normal
earthquake. But then it started to feel like a normal swaying, like a
very smooth side-to-side swaying,” said Nusunginya, director of audience
at the Peninsula Clarion newspaper. “It was unsettling. Some things got
knocked over, but there was no damage.”

There were reports of
scattered power outages from the Matanuska Electric Association and
Chugach Electric in the Anchorage area. The Homer Electric Association
reported on its website that about 4,800 customers were without power
early Sunday in the Kenai Peninsula.

The Alaska Department of
Transportation reported on its Facebook page that there was road damage
near the community of Kasilof, on the Kenai Peninsula.

The KSRM
(Radio Kenai) radio station in the Kenai peninsula said that about 2:30
a.m. the Kenai Fire Department was on the scene of a gas leak and
explosion at a home. Fire departments in Kenai, Anchorage and other
communities were getting calls about the quake.

A dispatcher for
the Homer police department, who declined to identify herself, said no
one called to report broken gas lines or any significant damage, but
many called to report feeling the strong quake.

The violent
shaking woke up Associated Press reporter Mark Thiessen, who had been
asleep for about two hours when then quake struck.

“I remember the
bed swaying back and forth, and loud noises, enough to wake me up even
after taking sleeping pills,” said Thiessen, 53. “My husband came into
the bedroom forcefully saying, ‘Get up! Get up!’ ” he said. “But I was
already awake, trying to figure out what was happening.”

The
hashtag #akquake was trending early Sunday on Twitter, where people were
sharing their experiences of the quake and posting photos of items that
had fallen off walls and shelves.

People were saying on social
media that the earthquake “was the biggest I ever felt as long as I have
lived here,” Barta said. One Twitter user wrote: “Everyone in
Anchorage is awake and on Twitter right? Biggest longest #earthquake of
my entire life. Family is all hanging in our bed now.”

A tsunami is not expected as a result of the earthquake, the National Weather Service said.

___

Associated Press writer Tarek Hamada in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.