ANCHORAGE, AK (CBS NEWS/WBTW) — Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.8 rocked buildings and shattered roads Friday morning in Anchorage, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a warning to residents in Kodiak to flee to higher ground for fear of a tsunami. The warning was lifted a short time later.
There were no immediate reports of any deaths or serious injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 7 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, with a population of about 300,000.
People ran from their offices or took cover under desks. Cracks could be seen in a two-story downtown Anchorage building, and photographs posted to social media showed fractured roads and collapsed ceiling tiles at an Anchorage high school.
One image showed a car stranded on an island of pavement, surrounded by cavernous cracks where the earthquake split the road.
While an anchor for CBS Anchorage affiliate KTVA-TV was describing damage from the earthquakes live on Facebook, another aftershock occurred. The crew had to take shelter under desks.
Another employee of the station shared a photo on Twitter of the newsroom after the earthquake.
Trans-Alaska pipeline shut down
The operators of the 800-mile-long trans-Alaska pipeline said they shut the system down as a precaution following the earthquake. Michelle Egan, a spokeswoman with the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, said there was no known damage to the pipeline.
She said data will be assessed at an operations center and a physical inspection of the line will be performed. She said the pipeline can be restarted before the physical assessment is complete.
Dramatic video, pictures show aftermath
Dramatic video and pictures of the aftermath surfaced on social media soon after the quake struck.
Trump briefed on quake during Argentina trip
The White House said President Trump has been briefed about the earthquake. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted Tuesday that Mr. Trump was monitoring the reports of damage.
Mr. Trump was in Argentina at the Group of 20 summit. Huckabee added: “We are praying for the safety of all Alaskans!”
Man tossed from bathtub during quake
Brandon Slaton was alone and home and soaking in the bathtub when the earthquake struck. Slaton just moved to Kenai, Alaska, with his wife from Arizona and had never felt an earthquake before the 7.0-magnitude temblor hit.
Slaton said the quake created a powerful bath-and-forth sloshing in the bathtub and before he knew it, he’d been thrown out of the tub by the force of the waves. His 120-pound mastiff panicked and tried to run down the stairs, but the house was swaying back and forth so much that she was thrown off her feet and into a wall and tumbled to the base of the stairs.
Slaton said: “It was anarchy. There’s no pictures left on the walls, there’s no power, there’s no fish tank left. Everything that’s not tied down is broke.”
Slaton ran into his son’s room after the shaking stopped and found his fish tank shattered and the fish on the closet floor, gasping for breath. He grabbed the Betta fish and put it in another bowl.
He said the area was eerily quiet. His children, 11 and 16, were evacuated from school.