A powerful earthquake shook southern Alaska on Friday morning, breaking cracks in some roads, blocking cars and disrupting traffic, and cutting off television channels in Anchorage, the nation's largest city.
The pictures of debris in Alaska highlight the magnitude of Friday's devastating earthquake. The Geological Survey said a seven-magnitude earthquake shook the area just south of Point McKinsey and its epicenter was 13 km north of Anchorage at a depth of 43 km.
Anchorage, the state capital and its most populous city, was shaken by the powerful earthquake until Governor Bill Walker issued a declaration of school closures after roads and bridges collapsed.
Anchorage, the state capital and its most populous city, was shaken by the powerful earthquake until Governor Bill Walker issued a declaration of school closures after roads and bridges collapsed.
Water and facilities management in Anchorage advised residents to boil water to avoid polluting it.
The quake also destroyed several buildings, and users of social networking sites exchanged snapshots of pipe bursts and vibrations where they were at the moment of the disaster.
The quake was followed by a large number of aftershocks.
Video recordings of social media showed major shops with shelves on the floor and footage of the newsroom at the KTVA television station, filled with chaos.
Traffic was stopped completely at peak time in Anchorage, after the quake struck around 8:30 am local time (1730 GMT).
The state government website reports that Alaska has seen an average of seven to eight earthquakes each year since 1900, indicating that the state has more earthquakes than any other region in the United States.
South Alaska saw the second-largest earthquake ever recorded at 9.2 degrees in 1964.
