5.0-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Anchorage, Alaska

A magnitude-5.0 earthquake rattled buildings Wednesday in Anchorage and other communities in Alaska.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

The temblor in the morning was 31 miles west of Anchorage and 15 miles northeast of the village of Tyonek. The epicenter was 31 miles below ground, according to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

The quake did not generate a tsunami, according to the center.

Janelle Baker, administrative assistant and human resources manager for the Tyonek Native Corp., said there was no damage in her village of 154 on the northwest shore of Cook Inlet, 43 miles southwest of Anchorage.

"It was scary, especially being in the office," she said. "It was a pretty big jolt."

A dispatcher with the Anchorage Fire Department said the department had not received any calls about the earthquake, but firefighters at one station pulled trucks out of the garage because the building was shaking so much.

It appears most Alaskans took the quake in stride. Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said there were no immediate calls about the earthquake.

"I was sitting at my computer, and I said, 'Did you guys feel that?"' she said.

When they said they didn't, Peters said: "I'm pretty sure that was an earthquake. My whole office shook."

Alaska is seismically active and has frequent earthquakes, although most are too small or too remote to be felt.

Alaska is the site of the biggest earthquake recorded in North America — a magnitude-9.2 quake on Good Friday 1964 that struck 75 miles east of Anchorage on Prince William Sound. The quake and the ensuing tsunami killed 115 people in Alaska and 16 people in California.