The Port of Alaska is staying open after a major earthquake hit Anchorage earlier in the day, causing minimal damage to the harborage within the Pacific Ocean's Cook Inlet.
"We are inspecting the damage right now and seem to be okay. All of the fuel structures seem to be sound," spokesman Jim Jager told TradeWinds this afternoon.
"There have been no injuries and no significant damage."
He said the port's offices "are a mess" but its lumberyards and critical infrastructures seem to be undamaged.
The port, which has three fuel terminals and three containership terminals, had one tanker dockside when the tremor came at 8:29 a.m. Anchorage time, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center, but no boxships are expected in the port until Sunday, Jager said.
The earthquake's magnitude registered 7.0 on the Richter scale.
Hawaii-based boxship owner Matson closed and evacuated its Anchorage terminal as it assesses damage from the quake, spokesman Keoni Wagner said.
"We don't have an assessment yet," he said.
Tote Maritime, a Washington-based boxship owner, closed its Anchorage terminal as well and sent employees home "for safety" after receiving a tsunami warning, dockright specialist April Frederick told TradeWinds.
"As far as we know, everything's looking good but we're just assessing the damage now," she said.
The Trans Alaska Pipeline, which runs 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay down to Valdez just east of Anchorage, was shut down "as a precaution," according to owner Alyeska Pipeline's Twitter feed.
"Crews have been dispatched to conduct surveillance and assess the system for possible damage," it reads.
Anchorage experienced a 9.2-magnitude earthquake, the second most powerful quake ever documented, on 27 March 1964 between Anchorage and Valdez
