Donald Trump Planning To ‘Spare No Expense’ To Fix Alaska Earthquake Damage
A massive earthquake hit Alaska, around the major city of Anchorage, early on Friday. The 7.0 magnitude quake resulted in major infrastructure damage, and aircraft bound for Anchorage had to be diverted elsewhere over the damage to the airport runways.
As reported by the Washington Times, President Donald Trump responded to the crisis in his usual way: With a message over Twitter. Aside from offering blessings to the people of Alaska as they recover from this disaster, he also added that the government will give whatever it takes to fix any damage.
“To the Great people of Alaska. You have been hit hard by a ‘big one,'” Trump tweeted. “Please follow the directions of the highly trained professionals who are there to help you. Your Federal Government will spare no expense. God Bless you ALL!”
Vice President Mike Pence also shared a message of support for Alaskans.
“We are with you Alaska. Our prayers are with you. God Bless,” he tweeted. And White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also chimed in.
“We are praying for the safety of all Alaskans!” she tweeted.
Trump is currently in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he is attending the G20 summit with other major world leaders.
Video shows people scrambling to take cover during a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rattled Alaska on Friday https://t.co/ixZS8e1WDy pic.twitter.com/aYk3MrYZtI
— CNN (@CNN) December 1, 2018
Shortly after the quake hit the northern state, the USGS released the somewhat non-comforting news that Alaska could experience up to 1,000 aftershocks in the 24 hours following. There is approximately a 78 percent chance of at least 23 aftershocks measuring over 5.0 on the Richter scale in the space of the next week, according to CNN.
The USGS has also estimated the sheer dollar value loss that comes with the destruction of infrastructure and homes in the state. There is a 35 percent chance that the losses will tally up to between $100 million to $1 billion, with a 25 percent chance that the losses will be more than $1 billion.
The airport at Anchorage, Ted Stevens International Airport, has been able to reopen since the earthquake, with flights both arriving and departing from the airport. Passengers making use of the airport have been warned that they could experience delays. Alaskan Airlines have issued a statement that travel waivers will be given out to passengers who are severely affected by the delays.
Plenty of other residents are being affected by wide spread power outages following the quake. According to Alaska’s Municipal Light and Power, between 7,000 and 10,000 ML&P customers were left without power. Despite this, ML&P tweeted that there was no damage to generation infrastructure, and that crews had been dispatched to get the grid back online.
