7.1 Earthquake

At 1:30 AM an earthquake struck Old Iliamna, 162 miles from Anchorage.  It registered 7.1 on the Richter scale.  We were at work.  Mat was on the first floor, I was on the second.  The building started shaking distinctly, which indicated it was a larger earthquake.  Earthquakes happen very frequently in Alaska, which is something I hadn't realized.  We have an earthquake in the 3-4 range almost every month.  When they occur while at work, I will see equipment sway but not actually feel the building move.  Tonight I felt the building move quite noticeably, which meant it was a big earthquake.  After about 30 seconds, the real shaking started.  Drawers pulled out of their slots, booms swayed in the rooms, carts & equipment jumped around, and my confused patient yelled at me to stop rattling her bed.  All the nurses jumped up and ran under door jams.  This major shaking lasted for a number of seconds followed by large ripple or wave movements until the end (which actually felt pretty cool, being heaved up & down).  The whole earthquake lasted 72 seconds.  It was pretty terrifying mostly because Barley was home alone and we didn't know what kind of condition the house was in or the roads home for that matter.  Reports came trickling in of only minor damage throughout the city, no major disruptions (unlike the damage reported on the Kenai).  The hospital itself sustained some cracked walls and a broken water pipe.  Adrenaline was coursing through everyone's veins for a while afterwards.  After that shift, I caught a flight to Seattle to visit my family.  Mat went home and found Barley in good spirits and minimal disruption to the house; turns out places built on bedrock felt less movement than places built on the mud & sand flats of downtown Anchorage. 

Map of epicenter location

Lots of videos show dramatic swaying of buildings but the best descriptor I've found is my friends' recording of the earthquake.  He has an app to record sleep talking and it kicked on to record the entire earthquake.