Quake felt strongly from Fairbanks to Anchorage, minor damage

PALMER, Alaska (AP) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 caused minor damage and was widely felt from Anchorage to Fairbanks early Wednesday.

''There was some small damage in Fairbanks ... some things knocked from shelves,'' said Alec Medbery of the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

He said the quake hit at 1:36 a.m. AST and appeared to be fairly shallow, about six miles beneath the surface. It was centered about 40 miles west of Denali National Park, 100 miles southwest of Fairbanks and 190 miles north of Anchorage.

The park, which features 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America, is mostly shut down for the winter, Medbery said.

An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 can cause slight damage in the local area; 4 can cause moderate damage; 5 considerable damage and 6 severe damage. The 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska that generated a damaging seismic sea wave, or tsunami, and killed 131 people has been estimated at 9.2 magnitude.