US Geological Survey is reporting preliminary magnitude of 7.0 for the earthquake that was centered 5 miles northwest of Anchorage near Goose Bay. The quake had a depth of 25 miles and occurred at 8:29 am on Friday November 30th.
UPDATE Sunday Dec 2nd
On Sunday at 1:00PM the Mat-Su School district announced that facilities staff and district leadership are continuing to assess each building. To assist in their efforts,most schools through Tuesday — with the exception of Glacier View, Trapper Creek Elementary, Talkeetna Elementary, Willow Elementary, Beryozova and Su Valley High School which will open on Monday December 3rd. The Superintendent will provide updated information on Monday afternoon.
Alaska Department of Transportation Construction announced that crews have reopened the Northbound Eagle River Bridge to two lanes of traffic. The third (left) lane will remain closed for repairs and there will be resurfacing in the upcoming weeks. Speed limit is 45 mph. For more information about road conditions in south-central Alaska, here are two links to DOT’s website (Earthquake Assessment: dot.alaska.gov/earthquake2018; Alaska 511: 511.alaska.gov)
UPDATE SATURDAY DEC 1ST
MEA is reporting that as of 4:00 AM, all MEA members should have power. If you still do not have power, contact MEA through the smarthub app or their outage line (746.7697 in the valley or 696.7697 in the Municipality of Anchorage).
US Geological Survey forecasts that “over the next week there is a 3 % chance of one or more aftershocks that are larger than magnitude 7.0. It is likely that there will be smaller earthquakes over the next week, with 84 to 610 magnitude 3 or higher aftershocks. Magnitude 3 and above are large enough to be felt near the epicenter. The number of aftershocks will drop off over time, but a large aftershock can increase the numbers again, temporarily.”
Check KTNA announcements page for a full list of local closures this weekend. Several events have been affected by the earthquake.
UPDATE 4:45 pm:
MEA now estimates that they have 10,000 members still without power.
The Mat-Su Borough has officially declared today’s earthquake as a disaster emergency.
UPDATE 3:30 pm: KTNA is airing APRN’s live broadcast of earthquake coverage this afternoon until local news at 6 pm. Phillip Manning is providing local updates near the top and bottom of the hour. You can stream KTNA online at ktna.org/listen.
ALL school activities, including Community Schools and holiday events, are canceled Friday evening through Sunday district-wide. MSBSD schools are closed Monday & Tuesday EXCEPT Glacier View, Trapper Creek Elementary, Talkeetna Elementary, Su Valley High School, Willow Elementary and Beryozova.
UPDATE 2:00 pm
Fire Chief Eric Chappel says the Talkeetna Fire Department is going back to normal operations and will no longer be staffing local fire stations. He says 911 service is back up and running in case of an emergency.
The Seward Highway is now open.
MEA reports that 32,000 people are still without power.
Open: Talkeetna Public Library, Sunshine Community Health Center (Willow and Talkeetna), Cubby’s Marketplace, Tesoro, and Crowley
UPDATE 1:17 pm:
Per Alaska Airlines, operations have resumed at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. There are delays so check with the airline and be prepared to be re-routed to and around the airport.
UPDATE 1:00 pm:
Alaska Railroad will not be running Saturday and Sunday, December 1st and 2nd, to check for rail and bridge damage
Talkeetna city water has been deemed safe for consumption per Terry Dolan, Public Works Director of the Mat-Su Borough.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a groundstop for all flights departing Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Some planes are being allowed to depart.
The Glenn Highway is closed at North Eagle River due to damage to an overpass, but a detour through Eagle River is possible.
UPDATE: 11:00 am:
Librarian Geri Denkewalter passed along that the Talkeetna Library is open, warm and has power and water. They will stay open later if necessary if people need them to. The library phone is 861-7645. There is no newspaper today but they have plenty of books and games and some snacks.
There is known road damage to Pittman Road, Vine Road, Palmer-Wasilla Highway, and Parks and Glenn Highway Interchange. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough urges people to stay off roads. If you must drive, use caution and treat all intersections as four way stops if lights are not operational.
School bus transportation is canceled this afternoon. The school district is asking that parents pick up their children from school, and you can do that any time during the school day.
Sunshine Transit is not running normal routes and schedule today.
UPDATE 10:30 am:
All upper Susitna Valley schools are ok and operating as a normal day. Minor damage and injuries are reported at Houston High School.
Fire chief Eric Chappel reports that roads and bridges from Willow to the Big Su bridge are passable.
APRN reports that according to the Anchorage Police Department, there is major infrastructure damage across Anchorage. Many homes and buildings are damaged. Many roads and bridges are closed. Police ask residents to stay off the roads if you don’t need to drive.
The National Tsunami Warning Center has rescinded the tsunami warning for the Southcentral Alaska. The National Tsunami Warning Center says the quake was capable of generating tsunami waves, but it has confirmed that the quake did not create any waves and there is no further risk.
Initial post:
US Geological Survey is reporting preliminary magnitude of 7.0 for the earthquake that was centered 5 miles northwest of Anchorage near Goose Bay. The quake had a depth of 25 miles and occurred at 8:29 am. Numerous aftershocks are occurring.
A tsunami warning is in effect for the Cook Inlet area, including the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage, and Mat-Su coastal areas.
911 services may be down in the Mat-Su. Fire chief Eric Chappel called to say that all upper valley fire stations are staffed today so contact them if you have an emergency (Willow, Caswell, Y, Talkeetna, and Trapper Creek).
Also, the fire department is checking on the schools. They’ve been to 2 as of 9:30am. Su Valley High School and Talkeetna Elementary are fine and operating as a normal school day.
At 9:50AM MEA reported that about 17,000 members were without power. Crews continue to work on bringing up remaining downed substations and then will work through smaller outages.
