7.0 magnitude earthquake hits Alaska, damaging homes and roads

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Alaska on Friday shook buildings, damaged highways and prompted a tsunami warning that was later canceled.

The quake hit about eight miles north of Anchorage, the most populous city in the state, at 8:30 a.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Videos posted to social media showed students taking shelter under desks and grocery store items knocked off shelves.

Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration and said the Trump administration’s response was "tremendous."

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"There is major infrastructure damage across Anchorage," the Anchorage Police Department said in a statement. "Many homes and buildings are damaged. Many roads and bridges are closed.”

There were no reports of deaths. The USGS estimated there was a low probability of fatalities because most people in the region live in structures that can withstand an earthquake.

"We have a lot to be thankful for," Walker said, adding that "building codes mean something."

Much of the damage occurred in transportation infrastructure, he said.

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Abigail Burman told NBC News the earthquake shook the wheel bearings off her truck and cracked the stove at her mother's house in the Anchorage Bowl.

"It actually knocked me down," Burman said. "I had been in the doorway, and I just sat there holding onto the door."

Many of the roads in the area were also closed, she said.

Christopher Helsel, 41, was at work on the east side of Anchorage when desks shook from side to side and computer monitors fell over. But his office in the Muldoon area of Anchorage did not lose power. Still, the experience was nerve-wracking, he said.

"I have been here almost 10 years and have never felt an earthquake as strong as I did today," said Helsel, the brother of an NBCNews.com reporter.

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Lisa Demer was also at work, on the sixth floor of the Wells Fargo Building in midtown Anchorage, when the earthquake hit. Her office was evacuated and had to rely on emergency power afterward.

"It was violent," said Demer, a 23-year Alaska resident, in a phone call with NBC News from her home on the west side of Anchorage near the airport. "I've felt a lot of earthquakes. Some, you stop and freeze in place. This one, there was no doubt that it was gigantic and scary."

The earthquake’s aftershocks, she said, were frightening and frequent; she said she felt about a dozen.

A worker looks at a stranded vehicle on a collapsed roadway near the airport after an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska on November 30, 2018.Nathaniel Wilder / Reuters

Glenn Highway and Seward Highway, two major arteries into and out of Anchorage, were closed in some areas but were later reopened, Anchorage police said.

An onramp to the interchange of International Airport Road and Minnesota Boulevard, which is less than a mile from where Demer lives, collapsed.

With no significant damage to her home, Demer told NBC News she hoped to spend the rest of the day helping others.

"I still have to check my crawl space. And then I’m going to see if there is something I can do," she said. "I want to see if there’s needs that I can help with in any way."