*Due to high volumes of website traffic, our entire morning earthquake coverage is also posted at www.facebook.com/KSRM920AM* TUNE IN TO KSRM 920AM ON YOUR RADIO AT NOON FOR THE LATEST. Continue checking this post as we update information.
For photos, visit www.facebook.com/KSRM920AM.
A rolling 7.1 earthquake tossed Kenai Peninsula residents for several minutes last night, starting multiple house fires, knocking out power and breaking apart K-Beach Road.
How you can help: evacuees at the Kenai Armory could use food and drinks. Check in before donating to ensure excess isn’t dropped off. One of the buildings burned on Lilac Lane was a duplex belonging to Mike and Sylvia Dale who recently lost their home in North Kenai to fire. They are using some of the donations they received to help their displaced tenants. To donate visit: https://www.gofundme.com/93g3c38s
The U.S. Geological Survey says the 1:30am quake was centered 52 miles E of Old Illiamna, 54 miles WSW of Anchor Point, and 162 miles SW of Anchorage and 76 miles deep, making it an “intermediate depth” quake. They say earthquakes at a depth of 70-300 miles typically cause less damage than more shallow tremors, but are felt more widely.
No tsunami warnings have been issued.
We got a status update from Central Emergency Services’ Brad Nelson at 9am…
Nelson: “The crews were extremely busy, alarms going on, potential gas leaks all over the place, and then the report of the road at K-Beach splitting. Troopers pretty much had that under control. Kenai has actually been the busy spot. The Lilac Lane area has had several residential fires, the gas leak going on there. They’re still out there right now. They’ve been the big trouble spot. Our crew’s pretty much steady, handling all the 911 calls that have been coming in.”
Fires
**10am Update: Fires are now under control**
Tony Prior with the Kenai Fire Department said four homes caught fire overnight on Lilac Lane and at least one appears to be a total loss, a second is possible. One of the buildings was a duplex belonging to Mike and Sylvia Dale who recently lost their home in North Kenai to fire. To donate visit: https://www.gofundme.com/93g3c38s
Prior says there is no estimate right now as to when residents might be allowed back in their homes.
ENSTAR is bringing in an excavator to try to find where the gas leaks might be. Prior says the utility company’s first goal is to provide temporary heat to the homes so they do not freeze.
Utility crews continue to isolate the gas leaks.
Lilac Ln residents were evacuated to the Kenai Armory. 45 people were evacuated according to Sgt. First Class Albert Burns. Walmart donated sleeping bags and pillows, but evacuees could use food and drinks for today.
The Kenai Fire Department says evacuees will be notified when it is safe to return in person and through the media. KFD is working with Borough Emergency Management to establish a hotline number for this event. We will post that number as soon as it is available.
Power
Homer Electric Association’s Joe Gallagher says power has been restored to most of the 4,150 meters that went dark overnight when the Bernice Lake substation in Nikiski went off line. Another 642 in Kasilof were also without power.
The only remaining outage as of 9am was Lilac Lane where 44 meters were without power. HEA will restore power to the area when it receives confirmation from the Fire Department that it is safe to do so.
If you do not have power, please call HEA’s outage hotline at 1-888-8OUTAGE (1-888-868-8243).
Roads
The Department of Transportation and Alaska State Troopers responded to the crack at Mile 1 of K-Beach Road, near the Sterling Highway intersection. Listener Salty Bock shared this video… https://www.facebook.com/KSRM920AM/videos/10153876602633665/
Schools
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District says they are in the process of checking every school today, and things look good so far. The District will send an update via an automated call late this afternoon after they’ve finished assessing the buildings.
Other Closures
The Lilac Lane area has been closed to traffic and one land of K-Beach has been shut. Walmart in Kenai reported they would be closed “due to inclement weather.” KSRM’s Ashley Smith was on scene and says Walmart reopened after a brief closure to clean up earthquake damage.
Cause
The earthquake itself appears to have been the result of “strike-slip faulting at intermediate depths, within the subducted lithosphere of the Pacific plate “ according to the USGS. They write, ” In the region of the earthquake, the Pacific plate moves northwestward with respect to North America at a rate of 60 mm/yr, and begins its decent into the mantle at the Alaska-Aleutian Trench almost 400 km to the southeast of this earthquake. The mechanism and depth of the earthquake are consistent with its occurrence within the interior of the subducted Pacific plate, rather than on the shallower plate boundary thrust between Pacific and North America. The focal mechanism indicates faulting occurred on either a northwest striking right-lateral structure, or on a northeast striking, left-lateral fault.”
Governor Bill Walker wrote:
“I was notified at 2:35 this morning by the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Southcentral Alaska. I am relieved that there was not more damage given the severity of the quake. We have set up shelter for those in need and stand ready to assist in whatever way we can. As a survivor of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake, I urge all Alaskans to have a response plan prepared for when a major natural disaster occurs. I thank all the emergency personnel and volunteers for their rapid response to last night’s events.
For any Alaskans with immediate life and safety concerns, please call 911 for local law enforcement. For any other concerns or questions relating to the earthquake, please call your local emergency manager or the State Emergency Operations Center at 907-428-7100, or visit ready.alaska.gov.” – Governor Bill Walker