Magnitude-6.8 quake hit southern Alaska — Federal agency

There are no deaths or serious injuries reported.

The quake, initially reported at a 7.3 magnitude, struck at 1:30 a.m. about 30 miles (48 km) east-southeast of Pedro Bay on the shore of Iliamna Lake, at the foot of a mountain chain just west of Cook Inlet, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

A local power company, Matanuska Electric Association, said in a statement that “the 7.1m natural disaster at 1:30 am caused several outages”, including to two power substations.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the epicenter of the Alaska quake was fifty three miles west of the Anchor Point within the Kenai Peninsula.

In the community of Kenai, four homes were destroyed and an entire neighbourhood had to be evacuated after a gas leak was reported. Almost 30 homes were evacuated. There were no reports of injuries or damage on that occasion.

Of the nearly 23,000 Alaskans who power their homes through Homer Electric Association, nearly 5,000 are without power Sunday after the quake.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker says he’s relieved there wasn’t more damage given the severity of Sunday’s magnitude 7.1 quake.

Andrew Sayers, 26, of Kasilof was watching television when the quake struck. “Dishes were crashing, and we sprinted toward the doorway”. There was a gas leak that apparently led to the explosion of one home in Kenai (KEY’-nigh), where there was also some road damage in one area. “It’s a miracle we didn’t bust our tires on it”, he said.

The Anchorage fire department continues to field numerous reports of water and gas line breaks with the full toll of damage yet to be tabulated.

The hashtag #akquake trended early Sunday on Twitter as people shared their experiences and posted photos of items that had fallen off walls and shelves.

After reaching his mother’s house, Sayers checked on his grandparents, who live about a mile away.

Bruce Shelley with ASD maintenance said 12 teams of two to three people are combing the district looking for any structural damage.

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