Alaska News

4.8 earthquake just north of Anchorage was aftershock of big 2018 quake, scientists say

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake shook the Anchorage area just before 10 a.m. Tuesday, and officials say it was an aftershock of the big 2018 Anchorage earthquake.

Tuesday’s earthquake, originally estimated at magnitude 4.9, was centered about 9 miles north of Anchorage at a depth of about 26 miles, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.

The 9:54 a.m. earthquake was felt throughout Anchorage as well as on the Kenai Peninsula and in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Valdez, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

No damage was reported in the hour following the quake, said Lea Gardine, a seismologist at the Alaska Earthquake Center.

The earthquake was an aftershock of the 7.1 earthquake that struck just north of Anchorage more than two years ago. There have been more than 11,000 aftershocks in the years since that Nov. 30, 2018, earthquake, according to the earthquake center. The largest was a magnitude 5.7 that occurred soon after the first quake.

About 30 minutes before Tuesday’s quake, another earthquake struck about 41 miles southeast of Whittier. Gardine said the two quakes were not connected or on the same fault line.

No damage was reported in Whittier, Gardine said. That quake was felt in Anchorage and as far north as Talkeetna, according to a report from the USGS.

Tess Williams

Tess Williams is a reporter focusing on breaking news and public safety. Before joining the ADN in 2019, she was a reporter for the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota. Contact her at twilliams@adn.com.

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