By Troy Gillard RD NewsNOW with files from Associated Press

Red Deer hockey player calls Alaska earthquake an ‘eye-opening experience’

Dec 1, 2018 | 8:33 PM

RED DEER —  A college hockey player from Red Deer says he was left shaken, but not stirred after experiencing his first earthquake.

Trey deGraaf is in his second year playing NCAA hockey with the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.

He was in a restaurant Friday morning with a couple of teammates when Anchorage was hit by back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7.

It was quiet one minute before the 22-year-old says “things got crazy.”

“Walls started shaking, ground started shaking, we didn’t really know how to react,” deGraaf says. “It just kept getting worse and we started to realize it was something pretty serious, so we took cover.

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: April 15, 2024

Apr 15, 2024

Week-in-review: Street sweeping, policing in Coaldale and #SlowYourRoll

Apr 13, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: April 12, 2024

Apr 12, 2024

“The first real earthquake probably lasted 15-20 seconds… And then it stopped and we were like ‘holy crap, what was that?’”

deGraff says several aftershocks made for some nervous moments, but nothing like when the initial quake struck. He admits the whole thing was an eye-opening experience.

“I was really shocked. You can’t really put it into words until it happens. At first you’re kind of wondering what it is, because I’d never really experienced any earthquake, let alone a pretty severe one.”

deGraaf’s regular five-minute drive home took about 20 minutes, he says, due to the chaos that ensued. 

“I don’t know if it was the tsunami warnings and everyone was trying to get to higher ground or away from the coast, but the roads, the ones that were still intact, were very busy.”

The Seawolves are on a bye weekend, so they weren’t scheduled to play Friday night. The team’s practice rink suffered some structural damage from the quakes.

Not that he wants to go through it again, de Graaf says he’ll be ready for it if he does.

“Ideally, this is a one and done. But at least I know if something were to start shaking again that I’ve experienced it before. I can’t imagine it being too much worse because, from what I’ve heard, this one was pretty severe.”

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the first and more powerful quake was centred about 7 miles (12 kilometres) north of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, with a population of about 300,000. The 5.7 aftershock arrived within minutes, followed by a series of smaller quakes.

No tsunami arrived and there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries.