On Sunday, Jan. 24, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake jolted Alaska, toppling book shelves, cracking walls and turning supermarket aisles into a pool of grocery goods. Some homes were wrecked but fortunately, no injuries were reported.
Alaska often experiences large earthquakes such as 2015's 7.9-magnitude quake in the remote Aleutian Islands. Seismologist Michael West, however, said that the recent incident is the strongest earthquake that hit Alaska's south-central area in decades.
The recent earthquake had a significant impact as it was close to population centers, added West.
The earthquake was first felt at around 1:30 a.m. Alaska time. People located 53 miles west of Anchor Point, Kenai Peninsula felt the greatest impact of the earthquake.
The biggest aftershock recorded was magnitude 4.7, but West said it can possibly reach up to 5 or 6.
Kenai police chief Gus Sandahl said one home in Kenai community went afire shortly after the earthquake.
"Residents smelled gas so police and fire evacuated residents in surrounding homes," Sandahl said.
A total of 30 homes in Kenai were evacuated due to the natural gas leak explosion. A few hours later, between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., another explosion was reported.
Police officers and gas utility workers persisted to work on the natural gas leak that caused the explosion.
Aside from fire, authorities also reported power outages in different areas in Anchorage. The Homer Electric Association said that approximately 4,800 customers in the Kenai Peninsula had no power supply on Sunday morning.
The Alaska Department of Transportation also said that there was a road damage near the area of Kasilof, also on the Kenai Peninsula.
Alaska Governor Bill Walker said on Sunday that he was glad that no further damage occurred. He urged all residents to develop a response plan in times of natural disasters like this.
Alaskans shared their experiences and photos on Twitter, where the hashtag #akquake trended on Sunday.
