5.8 Quake Hits Alaska

Alaskans are shaken out of their beds in the middle of the night as 5.8 magnitude earthquake strikes

• The Alaska earthquake was said to have struck at about 1.50am Monday 
• The quake hit about 55 miles away from the southwest coastal town of Homer 
• There were no reports of injuries or damage from the quake, but it was felt by many residents who said they were shaken awake by it
• Alaskans have been experiencing quakes and aftershocks in recent months 

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck off the coast of southern Alaska, but no damage has been reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake hit around 1.50am Monday, southwest of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula at a depth of 40 miles (65 kilometers).

A dispatcher with the Homer Police Department said there were no reports of damage or injuries from the quake that hit 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of the small coastal town of Homer.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute's Earthquake Center tweeted that reports from people who felt the quake came in from Kodiak to Valdez.

Although Alaska residents have been experiencing various aftershocks from the 7.1 magnitude Anchorage earthquake in November 2018 for several months now, the Earthquake Center tweeted that Monday morning's quake was not one of these aftershocks due to its distance from the earlier quake.  

There were more than 1,000 reports of people feeling the earthquake on the Geological Survey website.

People took to Twitter to report that it had shaken them out of their sleep.  

'Just had a verrrrry shaky 5.7 earthquake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. At 2:00am, not a fun way to roll out of bed,' wrote tweeter @SherriADub. 

'My poor son,' tweeted @helenkalmakoff of her five year old. 'Right after it happened he said I hope the roof doesn't fall on us.' 

'Woke up a few minutes before 2am to my bed shaking,' wrote @Kelsi_PDX_Girl, who said she lived 70 miles from Homer. 'I thought it was my dog. Then it didn't stop and I realized I felt my first #Alaska #earthquake.'

She went on to say that she didn't feel the subsequent three quakes that all registered under 3.0 magnitude, but that she hadn't been able to fall back to sleep afterwards.