A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the State of Alaska within the last week, leading to extensive damage to buildings, roads and homes.
Officials say that over 200 “small quakes” hit parts of Alaska within the last week, leading up to the massive 7.0 scale quake. In the past 50 years, there has been only one stronger and more impactful earthquake to hit the United States, exemplifying the sheer magnitude of the tremblor. In light of the incident, there were no reported deaths or injuries sustained by citizens. Citizens and officials of the city of Anchorage in particular, have already begun the rebuild phase, as they have already restored power and other emergency services and operations.
It was stated in an article about the situation by Ray Sanchez of CNN that “Most of the smaller earthquakes …were not felt. More than a dozen were higher than magnitude 4 and a handful greater than magnitude 5…” The major quakes shut down a 200 mile stretch of highway, businesses and emergency care facilities due to moderate through extensive damage.
The impact was centered around the city of Anchorage and resulted in cracked roads, splintered buildings and overall careful concern. Yet, Alaska has since improved from the earthquake as citizens and officials of Anchorage in particular, have already begun the rebuilding phase, as they have already restored power and other emergency services and operations. Also to note, the earthquakes tremors were felt “up to more than 400 miles away” from its epicenter (Sanchez)
The state of Alaska’s quick call to action and preparedness is remarkable as they look to reconstruct broken infrastructure and regain control of concern and caution of its citizens after Friday’s record earthquake.