Earthquake rocks Anchorage, Alaska
Reporters take notes at the new earthquake monitoring station June 23, 2004 at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. On exhibit in the Gottesman Hall of the Planet Earth, the earthquake station features a three-drum seismograph that constantly monitors and records the shaking of the ground as it is happening in Fairbanks, Alaska, Tuscon, Arizona and Nagano, Japan. The exhibit also features a color screen on which a map of the world alternates show real-time seismic activity.
A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska on Monday, but there was no major damage or people injured.
AP reported the magnitude-5.8 earthquake happened at about 4:45 p.m. and according to the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, the epicenter was 27 miles west of Anchorage.
It was felt over a 175-mile stretch but the quake wasn't expected to generate a tsunami, Guy Urban, a geophysicist for the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, told Reuters.
"Some people in Anchorage said some things fell off the shelves," he said.
Quakes of similar strength are fairly common in Alaska, one of the most seismically active parts of the United States.
Local resident John Owens felt the quake at his home in East Anchorage, describing it as "like a bam, really hard".
It was followed by low shaking for about 30 seconds "and then it ended with a second bam".
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