Pocatello natives safe, describe Alaska earthquake

Jessie Herrud-Mennear and her husband are Pocatello natives that moved to Alaska in June. This was Jessie’s first earthquake, and she says she was terrified.

Below are pictures of damage around her house. We talked to her on the phone, and she described trying to get downstairs to her little girls.

“It just got worse and worse, and I jumped out of bed and the girls, I could start to hear them start to scream downstairs,” she said. “I tried to make it down the stairs. I fell most of the way because our house was shaking so bad, and I got down to them, and they were just hugging each other, just screaming, and I grabbed them and kind of tried to get them into the bathroom. I started to head back up to get our baby who’s up in the crib and it stopped.”

Jessie says they’re predicting another aftershock that could be as big or bigger than the original earthquake.

The US Geological Survey has reported dozens of aftershocks. The largest, registering 5.7, was located in the city of Anchorage. Seismologists predicted many more in the coming days and weeks.

When we talked to Jessie on the phone, she said they were waiting in a long line to get gas and preparing to secure more things in the house so they wouldn’t fall over.