Radio In Control After Alaska Quake

• UPDATED: The state of Alaska remains in emergency mode after experiencing a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake. According to the USGS, the quake struck at 8:29am and was located about 13 miles north of Anchorage, which is still experiencing aftershocks of 4.8 and higher. That’s Minnesota Parkway in Anchorage, left. [Photo credit: Rowena Pediangco]

RAMP immediately reached out to our longtime Alaska contact, Bill “Stu” Stewart, PD and morning co-host on iHeartMedia Country KASH (KASH Country 107.5)/Anchorage, who has lived in the state for nearly three decades. “Scariest thing I’ve ever felt in 27 years in Alaska,” Stewart tells RAMP. “Usually they just hit and before you react it’s over… this one lasted several minutes with enough time for many of us to become religious quickly, praying it would just stop, but it kept getting more and more intense.”

Stewart also sent us this photo that he took (left) of windows blown out of the building that houses the iHeartMedia stations, just one floor above the studios. “Right now we are back on with wall-to-wall updates,” he said. “Everyone had to go pick up their kids from school… traffic felt like a Friday on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles. The water main broke downtown and there are multiple fires. Several highway on-and off-ramps and bridge collapses are being reported, so but so far, no word on injuries.”

Shortly after the quake struck, Stewart shot some video in his home and posted it to his Facebook page.

• RAMP also reached out to our friend Chuck Geiger, Director of Operations and Programming for Juneau Alaska Communications in the state capital of Juneau. “We are 496 miles to the south, but Anchorage is the real urban and commerce area of Alaska,” Geiger tells RAMP. “Shortly after 8:30am we went right into news coverage. Steve Holloway, our morning host on [Full Service] KINY began airing calls, reports and interviews almost immediately. We also aired reports from our station manager’s family and friends, and employees of Alpha Media and Ohana Media Group in Anchorage. Our newsroom was also in contact with the Tsunami Warning Center. We are fortunate to have a fully-staffed 24-hour newsroom for our five stations, and we also fed our sister stations in Ketchikan and Sitka, AK.”