Earthquakes rock Alaskan city

SHAKING BROKE WINDOWS AND COLLAPSED ROAD

Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 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 tsunami warning was lifted without incident 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 centred about 7 miles (12 kilometres) north of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, with a population of about 300,000.

People ran from their offices or took cover under desks.

A large section of road near the Anchorage airport collapsed, marooning a car on a narrow island of pavement surrounded by deep chasms in the concrete.

The shaking broke store windows, opened cracks in a two-story building downtown, disrupted electrical service and disabled traffic lights, snarling traffic.

It also threw a full-grown man out of his bathtub.

All flights were halted at the airport after the quake knocked out telephones and forced the evacuation of the control tower, and the 800mile Alaska oil pipeline was shut down while crews were sent to inspect it for damage.

Anchorage’s school system cancelled classes and asked parents to pick up their children while it examined buildings for gas leaks or other damage.

Officials opened an Anchorage convention centre as an emergency shelter.