Alaska interior rattled by earthquake

AN earthquake slammed a remote area of Alaska’s interior and delivered a jolt so strong that it created giant waves on lakes and ponds around the continent. The magnitude 7.9 quake was one of the strongest ever recorded in the United States.

The quake, centred on the Denali Fault, 90 miles south of Fairbanks, struck on Sunday at 1.13pm Alaska Standard Time its effects strongly felt in Anchorage about 270 miles to the south.

"It shook so bad you could not stand up on the front porch," said Jay Capps, a grocery store owner between Tok and Glennallen in the south-eastern part of the state. "It sounded like the trees were breaking roots under the ground."