<p class="title">Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 shattered highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage and the surrounding area, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a tsunami warning for islands and coastal areas south of the city.</p>.<p class="bodytext">No tsunami arrived and there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US Geological Survey said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 12 kilometers north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, with a population of about 300,000. People ran from their offices or took cover under desks. The 5.7 aftershock arrived within minutes, followed by a series of smaller quakes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We just hung onto each other. You couldn't even stand," said Sheila Bailey, who was working at a high school cafeteria in Palmer when the quake struck. "It sounded and felt like the school was breaking apart."</p>.<p class="bodytext">A large section of an off-ramp near the Anchorage airport collapsed, marooning a car on a narrow island of pavement surrounded by deep chasms in the concrete. Several cars crashed at a major intersection in Wasilla, north of Anchorage, during the shaking.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said he had been told that parts of Glenn Highway, a scenic route that runs northeast out of the city past farms, mountains and glaciers, had "completely disappeared."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Traffic in the three lanes heading out of the city was bumper-to-bumper and all but stopped Friday afternoon as emergency vehicles passed on the shoulder.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The quake broke store windows, knocked items off shelves, opened cracks in a two-story, downtown building, disrupted electrical service and disabled traffic lights, snarling traffic. It also threw a full-grown man out of his bathtub.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Flights at the airport were suspended for hours after the quake knocked out telephones and forced the evacuation of the control tower. And the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline was shut down while crews were sent to inspect it for damage.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Anchorage's school system canceled classes and asked parents to pick up their children while it examined buildings for gas leaks or other damage.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration. He was in an elevator in a high-rise Anchorage office building and said it was a "rough ride" coming down. He described the quake as a 7.2, though it was unclear why his figure differed from that of the USGS.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Walker says it will take more than a week or two to repair roads damaged by the earthquake.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is much more significant than that," he told reporters at a news conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Walker leaves office on Monday, and he said members of Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy's staff had been involved with the earthquake response to ensure a smooth transition.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This isn't a time to do anything other than take care of Alaskans, and that's what we're doing," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alaska was the site of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the US. The 9.2-magnitude quake on March 27, 1964, was centered about 120 kilometers east of Anchorage. It and the tsunami it triggered claimed about 130 lives.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The state averages 40,000 earthquakes a year, with more large quakes than the 49 other states combined. Southern Alaska has a high risk of earthquakes because the Earth's plates slide past each other under the region.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alaska has been hit by a number of powerful quakes over 7.0 in recent decades, including a 7.9 last January southeast of Kodiak Island. But it is rare for a quake this big to strike so close to such a heavily populated area. </p>
<p class="title">Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 shattered highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage and the surrounding area, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a tsunami warning for islands and coastal areas south of the city.</p>.<p class="bodytext">No tsunami arrived and there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US Geological Survey said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 12 kilometers north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, with a population of about 300,000. People ran from their offices or took cover under desks. The 5.7 aftershock arrived within minutes, followed by a series of smaller quakes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We just hung onto each other. You couldn't even stand," said Sheila Bailey, who was working at a high school cafeteria in Palmer when the quake struck. "It sounded and felt like the school was breaking apart."</p>.<p class="bodytext">A large section of an off-ramp near the Anchorage airport collapsed, marooning a car on a narrow island of pavement surrounded by deep chasms in the concrete. Several cars crashed at a major intersection in Wasilla, north of Anchorage, during the shaking.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said he had been told that parts of Glenn Highway, a scenic route that runs northeast out of the city past farms, mountains and glaciers, had "completely disappeared."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Traffic in the three lanes heading out of the city was bumper-to-bumper and all but stopped Friday afternoon as emergency vehicles passed on the shoulder.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The quake broke store windows, knocked items off shelves, opened cracks in a two-story, downtown building, disrupted electrical service and disabled traffic lights, snarling traffic. It also threw a full-grown man out of his bathtub.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Flights at the airport were suspended for hours after the quake knocked out telephones and forced the evacuation of the control tower. And the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline was shut down while crews were sent to inspect it for damage.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Anchorage's school system canceled classes and asked parents to pick up their children while it examined buildings for gas leaks or other damage.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration. He was in an elevator in a high-rise Anchorage office building and said it was a "rough ride" coming down. He described the quake as a 7.2, though it was unclear why his figure differed from that of the USGS.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Walker says it will take more than a week or two to repair roads damaged by the earthquake.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is much more significant than that," he told reporters at a news conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Walker leaves office on Monday, and he said members of Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy's staff had been involved with the earthquake response to ensure a smooth transition.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This isn't a time to do anything other than take care of Alaskans, and that's what we're doing," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alaska was the site of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the US. The 9.2-magnitude quake on March 27, 1964, was centered about 120 kilometers east of Anchorage. It and the tsunami it triggered claimed about 130 lives.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The state averages 40,000 earthquakes a year, with more large quakes than the 49 other states combined. Southern Alaska has a high risk of earthquakes because the Earth's plates slide past each other under the region.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alaska has been hit by a number of powerful quakes over 7.0 in recent decades, including a 7.9 last January southeast of Kodiak Island. But it is rare for a quake this big to strike so close to such a heavily populated area. </p>