ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked buildings and triggered a tsunami warning for the coastal areas of southern Alaska Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake Friday morning was centered about 7 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city.

 

The quake caused lamp posts and trees to sway and people to seek shelter under office desks.

An Associated Press reporter working in downtown Anchorage saw cracks in a 2-story building after the quake. 

Anchorage police report several roads and bridges were closed and assessments were underway. Building and utilities damage assessments were also being conducted. 

A former Deltona resident now living in Alaska sent us a photo of a buckled road in Anchorage, at Minnesota Drive and International Airport Road. 

Photographs showed damage at Anchorage High School, cereal boxes littering the floor of a grocery store.

The tsunami warning was issued after an aftershock. It's in effect for parts of Cook Inlet and southern Kenai peninsula.

Police in the Kodiak Island community told residents to head to higher ground because of the tsunami threat.

Alaska averages about 40,000 earthquakes per year, with the southern part of the state at higher rates because the tectonic plates slide past each other under that region.