Early morning Earthquake shakes up Southeast Alaska, Yukon

A major earthquake rocked Southeast Alaska and an area of the Yukon on Monday morning.

The magnitude 6.2 shaker hit at 4:30 a.m. and was centered near the Haines Highway about 55 miles northwest of Skagway, said state seismologist Michael West at the Alaska Earthquake Center in Fairbanks.

“South of Haines Junction on what we believe at this point was the Denali Fault,” he said. “It’s had a vigorous set of aftershocks, several dozen aftershocks as of right now. They’re being felt in Whitehorse. We’re told that the power was out in Whitehorse. We know it was felt strongly in Juneau and throughout Southeast.”

There was a 6.3 aftershock at about 6:18 a.m.

“Reports have been coming in from all over this morning,” West said. “One person indicated in Whitehorse that their Facebook posts were wall-to-wall about the earthquake. We did see a tweet come across from (state Rep.) Scott Kawasaki’s office in Juneau.”

West anticipates damage reports will come in as the initial earthquake was located at a fairly shallow depth and very near the Haines Highway.

Although the epicenter of this morning’s activity is in Canada, it’s important to remember that the Denali Fault spans all the way from mainland Alaska to southeast, West adds.

“Anytime you have an earthquake this size, in magnitude 6 and up, especially if we’ve had a couple of them there’s at least a small chance of related activity on adjoining sections of the fault,” West said. “But we have no reason to suspect that right now.”

A 2002 7.9 magnitude earthquake along the Denali Fault 90 miles south of Fairbanks caused widespread surface disruption, which damaged roads, and caused a section of the Trans Alaska Pipeline to shift.

KUAC - Fairbanks

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