Saturday earthquake rattles southcentral Alaska

WASILLA — Alaskans in the southcentral part of the state were awakened at 3:23 a.m. on Saturday to a magnitude 5.0 earthquake that struck 16 miles south of Willow at a depth of 24.2 miles and sent dozens of aftershocks into effect in the hours following.

At 3:27 a.m., on Saturday, another magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 12 miles south of Willow and at 6:03 a.m., a 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit 16 miles west of Wasilla. The Alaska Earthquake Center reported that the initial magnitude 5.0 earthquake was at the northern end of the aftershock zone from the magnitude 7.1 earthquake from November of 2018.

“It is reasonable to call this an aftershock,” wrote the Earthquake Center.

Within 90 minutes, over 30 aftershocks had rumbled the Valley and within one day over 80 aftershocks were felt around the Anchorage area. At 11 a.m., the Alaska State Troopers stopped traffic to observe what appeared to be structural damage to the Parks Highway and Glenn Highway flyover interchange. The Troopers and the Department of Transportation immediately inspected the bridge.

“The highway was shut down with traffic detoured until structural engineers from DOT could assess the damage and render the bridge safe for travel. DOT eventually rendered the bridge safe for travel and the highway was reopened for use,” reads the Trooper Dispatch.

There have been 41,447 earthquakes reported in Alaska this year.