Oct 24, 2002 2 min read

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A strong earthquake rocked a broad swath of Alaska on Wednesday, waking people up hundreds of miles from the epicenter and knocking items off shelves but causing no major damage or injuries. The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7, hit at 3:27 a.m. and was centered about 30 miles southeast of Denali National Park.

It was felt as far as 350 miles away, said Bruce Tanner, a seismologist with the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer.

In Healy, just north of the park, Grandview Bed and Breakfast co-owner Shelly Acteson said the quake knocked just about everything off the walls and shelves.

“Usually they kind of roll, you can kind of hear them coming,” she said. “This one sounded like it was kind of mad – boom, boom, boom.”

The quake was felt by residents in Fairbanks, 85 miles north of the epicenter and Anchorage, 170 miles to the southwest.

The quake struck at the relatively shallow depth of about six miles, which is why it was felt by so many people, said Guy Urban, a geophysicist with the tsunami center.

In Talkeetna, about 100 miles southwest of the epicenter, the manager of a general store said the quake sent wine bottles and canned goods crashing to the floor.

“I had a mess in the liquor store,” Kris Mahay said. “If it went on any longer or any harder it would have been bad because everything was on the edge of the shelf.”

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6 can cause severe damage; a magnitude-7 quake is considered major and capable of widespread, heavy damage.

The “Good Friday” earthquake in Alaska that left 131 people dead in 1964 measured 8.5 on Richter scale. Current measures put the magnitude at quake at 9.2.

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On the Net:

National Earthquake Information Center: http:/

eic.usgs.gov