By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
As reported in the New York Times
November 4, 2002
ANCHORAGE, Nov. 3 (AP) - A major earthquake rocked a sparsely populated area of interior Alaska early this afternoon, damaging supports on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and cracking highways and roads.The magnitude 7.9 quake, centered 90 miles south of Fairbanks, was strongly felt just after 1 p.m. in Anchorage, about 270 miles to the south.
The state patrol said only one injury had been reported.
The 800-mile oil pipeline was shut down after the quake. Inspectors found the
pipe intact, but damage to support structures in 13 places, the Alyeska Pipeline
Service Company, the consortium that runs the pipeline, said.
The earthquake occurred on the Denali Fault, said John Lahr, a geophysicist at the United States Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.
Earthquakes above magnitude 7 are considered major and are capable of widespread, heavy damage.
A moderate earthquake shook Nebraska earlier today. The 4.3 quake hit some 30 miles northwest of O'Neill, the geological survey said.