US federal authorities issued an emergency declaration for Alaska after a magnitude 7 earthquake struck on Friday, which left thousands without electricity and temporarily shut the state’s most important oil pipeline.
The authorities have been directed to provide assistance for Anchorage as well as Kenai Peninsular and Matanuska-Susitna boroughs, according to an alert from the Department of Homeland Security. The temblor hit 8 miles north of Anchorage.
The earthquake affected the 800-mile Trans Alaska Pipeline System that carries crude from the Arctic coast to the marine terminal in Valdez, which was shut for seven hours. It was was restarted late Friday, Alyeska