The U.S. Geological Survey https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000hyfh/pager" rel="nofollow - estimates a low probability of fatalities from the earthquake. Estimated economic losses are most likely between $100 million and $1 billion, which is an “orange alert,” according to the survey’s algorithms. “Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,” the center said on its website.

Friday’s quake occurred on a fault line between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, the USGS said. The rupture between the faults occurred in an area where the Pacific plate is moving underneath Alaska. Anchorage was severely damaged in March 1964 by the https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/03/27/remembering-the-1964-great-alaska-earthquake-the-largest-in-u-s-history/?utm_term=.c42896a198ec" rel="nofollow - Great Alaska Earthquake , a 9.2-magnitude quake with its epicenter about 75 miles east of the city. That quake, which lasted for about four-and-a-half minutes, was the most powerful earthquake recorded in U.S. history. It destroyed a major part of downtown Anchorage and caused a tsunami that ravaged towns on the Gulf of Alaska and beyond.