Earthquake rattles Alaska

Our live coverage of today’s earthquake in Alaska has ended. Read our continuing report here: 7.0 Alaska quake damages roads, brings scenes of chaos

Like forecast models that predict the weather, USGS has a forecast model for the likely hood of aftershocks.

It says that there is a 78% chance of 0-23 aftershocks of a magnitude 5 or greater in the next week.

Over the next 24 hours, there could be anywhere between 10-1,000 aftershocks magnitude 3 or greater.

Here is the complete forecast:

They also have forecast for estimate economic losses. 

Right now they are estimating there is a 35% chance of 100 million to a billion in economic losses. There is a 25% chance that economic losses will be over a billion. 

From the Alaska Airlines website:

Before Friday, Melissa Lohr had never felt an earthquake before.

A southerner living in Anchorage, she was on her way to work when the street lights went dark and the car began rocking.

Since she had never felt an earthquake before, “It felt like it took several minutes to register what was going on,” she told CNN.

To make matters worse, the Alaskan roads are snowy and slippery.

Now, she has no choice but to wait it out at home; she can’t get out the gate, and the bridge beyond is shut down due to a sinkhole beneath it. While taking shelter and sitting on her couch, she felt several aftershocks rumble through.

There have now been 30 aftershocks from the original 7.0 earthquake.

President Trump, who is currently attending the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, tweeted that Alaskans were “hit hard by a ‘big one.’”

It will be taken care of by the federal government, which will “spare no expense,” he added.

Alaska’s Municipal Light and Power said there are approximately 7,000 to 10,000 ML&P customers without power, and that their crews were responding now.

“No damage to generation infrastructure. Crews are assessing substation and other distribution infrastructure issues,” ML&P tweeted.

They warned residents to watch out for downed power lines, and to stay away from any they see.

Gabe Martinez took this photo after evacuating from Dimond High School in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.

He was in his second hour orchestra class when the earthquake hit.

“Since I was in orchestra class we had no desks or tables,” he said. “All we had were music stands and small chairs. I had to get under a small chair to protect myself.”

Kids were screaming and crying and there was a lot of debris, Martinez told CNN. “That light had shut off and the first quake shook really hard and it stayed for a few seconds. Then a big aftershock came and they had kids evacuate.”

Martinez said he was picked up from school and is safe now.

Earthquakes are common in this region, says the United States Geological Survey. Over the past century, 14 other earthquakes of 6.0 magnitude and above have occurred within 150 km (93.2 miles) of the earthquake that hit this morning near Anchorage.

Two such earthquakes – a 6.6 magnitude quake in July 1983 and a 6.4 magnitude quake in September 1983 – seem similar to today’s earthquake.

They were at similarly shallow depths, and caused damage in the region of Valdez, east of Anchorage.

The biggest earthquake that has hit Alaska was a 9.2 magnitude giant in March 1964, an interface thrust faulting earthquake that ruptured over several hundred kilometers between Anchorage and the Alaska-Aleutians trench, and to the southwest.

“I have been here 37 years and that was the most violent earthquake I have ever felt. It was absolutely terrifying,” Kristin Dossett, a resident of Palmer, Alaska, told CNN.

“It shook like I have never felt anything shake before. It just didn’t stop. It kept going and got louder and louder, and things just fell everywhere — everything off my dressers, off my bookcases, my kitchen cupboard. Just broken glass everywhere.”

Dossett described aftershocks rattling the house and causing things to fall over. Her piano moved a foot and a half from the wall during a particularly strong aftershock.

“You get a little scared because you don’t know how big it’s going to be,” she said.

Hear her describe the moment:

Video from the Nesbett Courthouse in Anchorage showed attorneys jumping under their desks, paintings swinging on the walls and pieces of the ceiling dropping to the floor as the earthquake hit.

Aftershocks are expected after this morning’s Alaska quake, according to Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist with the California Institute of Technology.

She says the average sequence of aftershocks for a quake this size is a 5.8, but that it could be larger than that average figure. She advises to expect many more aftershocks from today’s event.

”We think the number dies off with time, but the relative distribution from large to small is constant,” and weeks to months later, aftershocks will follow, she explains.

For example, the last 5-magnitude aftershock that followed the 1994 Northridge, California, quake was three years after the original event.

There have been at least 30 aftershocks so far for this quake.

Dr. Elizabeth Cochran of the United States Geological Survey says the Anchorage quake was a “normal faulting event” among plates under Alaska.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar just walked viewers through a map that shows where Alaskans felt the shaking — yellow in the video below represents “strong” and orange “very strong” or “severe.”

A big concern for the area near the epicenter is what’s called liquefaction, a process where the soil becomes saturated with water, which can cause it to erupt into torrents and topple buildings and destroy roads.

Even in downtown Anchorage, a lot of the coastal regions are at significant risk for the potential for that liquefaction to take place, according to Chinchar.

Watch below: Latest updates on Alaska damage

Eric Nelius’s home camera caught the earthquake on film as it hit his home in Fairbanks, Alaska — almost 350 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter in Anchorage.

In the video, Nelius’ wife rushes to grab her children and dogs as the walls begin shaking and a loud rumbling fills the air.

The family is now safe, though their possessions sustained some damage.

Watch it here:

President Trump has been briefed on the Alaska earthquake and is monitoring damage reports, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Twitter Friday afternoon.

“We are praying for the safety of all Alaskans!” she added.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has issued a declaration of disaster after Friday morning’s earthquake, according to a post on his Facebook page.

Gov. Walker also said he is in “direct contact” with the White House, and is coordinating with emergency responders.

“From the incident command center established at Joint Base Elmendorf and Richardson we are closely monitoring reports of aftershocks and assessing damage to roads, bridges and buildings,” he wrote.

“My family is praying for yours. God bless Alaska.”

Two of Anchorage’s main hospitals sustained damage following the 7.0 earthquake near the city.

Kjerstin Lastufka, a spokeswoman at Alaska Regional hospital, says the hospital is assessing the main building and offices on campus. “We’re seeing some cracks in the walls and some cracks in the floors, and a little bit of water leaks.”

The hospital emergency room is open, but all elective surgeries and appointments have been canceled. They’re not seeing an influx of patients yet, but they are prepared to handle additional patients.

She was in her office at the time of the quake; pictures fell off the wall and plants toppled over on window sills. “It went on for quite some time,” Lastufka said.

Providence Alaska Medical Center also announced that though there was some building damage, their ER remains open. 

Anchorage Assembly Member Pete Peterson tells CNN the 7.0 earthquake hit just after he had gotten his kids onto the bus at 8:29 a.m.

“Everything shook off the walls. The prints fell off the walls. Glass broke,” Peterson says.

Peterson says they lost power at his condo, but he has not seen any damage to the building, and has heard from friends in downtown Anchorage who have not lost power.

According to the National Tsunami Warning Center, the Tsunami warning is canceled for the Cook Inlet area and Southern Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

No tsunami danger exists, and no destructive tsunami has been reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says they have evacuated the tower at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Flights that were en route are being diverted, and flights that are bound for this airport but have not taken off yet are under a ground stop.

There are about 20 flights initially affected, but this preliminary number may change as officials continue assessing the damage.

Meanwhile, outside the airport, there are cracked and collapsed roads. “Use EXTREME Caution if you are driving,” the airport tweeted.

According to the FAA website, there are currently four airports closed: Ted Stevens International Airport, Adak Airport, Merrill Field Airport & Fort Richardson Airport. 

Former Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tweeted that her house was not intact after the quake, but did not elaborate on specific damage.

“[Pray] for Alaska. Our family is intact - house is not,” she wrote. “So thankful to be safe.”