Two earthquakes shook Interior Alaska Friday afternoon, the Alaska Earthquake Center reported.
The first, a 3.4 magnitude quake, hit at 2:12 p.m. and was 0.4-mile deep, according to the center. The quake was centered 14 miles west of Salcha and 19 miles southwest of Eielson Air Force Base. Less than a minute later, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake struck the same area. The 2.8-mile deep quake was centered 14 miles west of Salcha and 18 miles southwest of Eielson Air Force Base.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of either earthquake.
“They were separated by only about 13 seconds,” said Stephen Holtkamp, an analyst for the Alaska Earthquake Center. “The one that people felt was magnitude 4.0. The other one probably wasn’t felt because it was just too small and the seismic waves at that point were probably overlapping.”
“This is part of a distributed series of faults that sort of cut throughout the town from Minto to the west past Salcha to the east,” Holtkamp said. “These types of earthquakes are expected, we’ve had them in the past, we will have them in the future.”
Holtkamp encouraged residents to prepare their homes for future quakes.
“We do live in earthquake country and anything you can do to help mitigate losses from earthquake hazards like strapping down your bookshelves and making sure nothing can fly around the room in an earthquake is always a good thing to do,” he said.
Social media across the Interior reported feeling the quake from Salcha to Ester and other locations across Fairbanks.
“I live in North Pole and I sure did feel it. We live off badger and it shot for a few moments let me tell you everything in my room was moving,” one woman wrote in the Fairbanks, Alaska Facebook page.
The Alaska Earthquake Center is asking for reports from anyone who felt the shake.
Contact Liv Clifford at 459-7582, [email protected] or follow her at twitter.com/FDNMcrime.
