On November 30, 2018, at 8:29 a.m. AKST (17:29 UTC), a magnitude 7.1[1] earthquake hit Anchorage in South Central Alaska.

It was followed six minutes later by a magnitude 5.7 aftershock centered 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-northwest of the municipality.

[8] The National Tsunami Warning Center—itself located inside the quake zone, in Palmer, Alaska, 42 miles (68 km) northeast of Anchorage—issued tsunami warnings for nearby coastal areas, including Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula, but they were lifted shortly after.

The Glenn Highway was damaged to the point where officials stated it would likely take a long time to repair.

A ramp connecting Minnesota Drive to area streets collapsed, as well as the surrounding hillside.

[8] The newsroom studio of KTVA in Anchorage (then affiliated with CBS) was heavily damaged, but the channel remained on the air.

UAA's older Wells Fargo Sports Complex suffered similar damage.

In South Anchorage, Dimond High School had ceiling tiles and other debris littering the floor throughout the campus.

[22][21][23] During the earthquake, a student suffered a broken wrist, and a custodian was injured by breaking glass at area schools.

[31] A federal disaster was declared shortly after the earthquake and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deployed personnel from the state emergency operations center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to conduct relief operations.

The local public bus system, People Mover, ended service for the day following the earthquake.

[34] The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities moved quickly to inspect bridges and begin road repairs.

Despite not normally paving during winter, area asphalt plants were restarted and within days sufficient repairs were made to reopen several heavily damaged roads.