A moderate earthquake shook Southcentral Alaska Monday afternoon.
At 5.8 on the Richter scale -- revised upward from an initial magnitude of 5.7 -- it was strong enough to knock objects from shelves, but no serious damage was reported, said Guy Urban, senior watchstander at the Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer.
The quake struck at 4:42 p.m. The Tsunami Warning Center said the quake occurred at a depth of 33 1/2 miles and was located 25 miles west of Anchorage and 55 miles southwest of Palmer. It was widely felt across the region.
The National Weather Service said no tsunami was expected. The rolling quake, the strongest felt in Anchorage in recent years, created quite a ride, but nothing like the shallow, road-splitting 7.9 quake that rocked the area south of Fairbanks in 2002.
"I had a father in, with his two-year-old twins, and we sort of just looked at each other and, like, 'Uhh, do we go?'" said Annie Pazar at Bella Boutique on Spenard Road. "But it was a very calm conversation about whether we should exit the building."
There was no need to flee, but six or seven stainless steel flasks fell from an armoire. The flasks, made in Denver by a former Alaskan named Kristy Hall, proved as strong as the beverage they were meant to hold.
"I sent her a text -- 'Good product, Dude,'" Pazar said.
Reach Richard Mauer at rmauer@adn.com or 257-4345.
By RICHARD MAUER