2016 Earthquake In Alaska Reported To Be At 7.1 Magnitude; No Damages Nor Tsunami Alerts?

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Alaska yesterday, making it the first major calamity to hit the area for 2016.

The residents of Anchorage felt a shake yesterday and it was reported that its magnitude was 7.1 with an after-shock. While it would be considered a major calamity, no injuries were reported.

Michael West, Alaska's seismologist, has named it to be the decade's strongest earthquake that has occurred in the state's south-central region. He also predicted that the aftershocks might continue to be experienced for a few weeks.

The state is known to experience powerful earthquakes, last year's record being a 7.9 at the remote Aleutian Islands.

"However, last night's earthquake is significant because it was close enough to Alaska's population centers," West said, as cited by FoxNews.

The US geological survey indicated that the first earthquake for 2016 occurred at around 1.30 A.M. Alaska Time and was centered 53 miles west of Anchor point situated in the Kenai Peninsula, about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage. The measure was initially at 6.4 magnitude, after which it got upgraded to 7.1 and then downgraded to 6.8 by the end.

Two hours later, an aftershock of 4.3 magnitude was experienced.

"It started out as a shaking and it seemed very much like a normal earthquake," said Vincent Nusunginya, director of audience at the Peninsula Clarion Newspaper. "But then it started to feel like a normal swaying, like a very smooth side-to-side swaying."

"It was unsettling," he added. "Some things got knocked over, but there was no damage."

In relation to the first major news of 2016 in the state, INQUISITR reported that there have been very few damage reports after the earthquake was felt by the citizens of Alaska. Moreso, no indication of any danger of a tsunami causing devastation along the southern coastline has been reported.