A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Alaska today, Nov. 30, centered about 7 miles north of Anchorage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ALDOT&PF) immediately deployed crews to inspect roads and bridges following the quake, while also placing its Alaska Marine Highway System on alert due to tsunami warnings issued by the National Weather Center; warnings which were subsequently cancelled by the NWS.
“It will take time to inspect all infrastructure,” the agency said in a Facebook post. “Because this earthquake is so widespread, inspections are taking place across the state.”
The Alaska DOT&PF, which oversees 239 airports, 10 ferries, plus more than 5,600 miles of highway and 731 facilities, said it also received reports of a rock slide by McHugh Creek, which blocked and subsequently closed part of the 125-mile long Seward Highway, which connects Anchorage to the town of Seward to the south.
Alaska is the most seismically active U.S. state, according to USGS, and is the site of the second-largest earthquake ever recorded—a 1964, magnitude 9.2 earthquake in Prince William Sound that caused extensive damage throughout south-central Alaska and generated a Pacific-wide tsunami.
This story was sourced from an AASHTO report; it has been lightly edited. The photo is from Twitter, as posted to the Alaska DOT page by a citizen witness.
