Sunday's 7.9 earthquake opened a large crack in the Tok Cutoff Highway near Mentasta. ( Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation) Department of Transportation workers look over the damage between miles 75 and 82 of the Tok Cutoff Highway Monday, near Mentasta, Alaska, caused by an earthquake on Sunday that rocked a sparsely populated area of Interior Alaska cracking highways and roads. ( Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation) Kirk Mercer slows traffic approaching a crack that crossed the Parks Highway on Sunday 10 miles north of Healy. The epicenter of the 7.9 quake was 50 miles east-southeast of Healy and about 80 miles south of Fairbanks. It could be felt throughout Alaska and as far away as Louisiana because it was only three miles deep. ( Photo by Jimmy Tohill ) Vertical supports that hold the above-ground portions of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline lay broken under it Sunday about 40 miles south of Delta. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. spokesman Mike Heatwole said the pipe was intact after the earthquake. ( Photo by The Associated Press) ( Ron Engstrom / Anchorage Daily News) Click on photo to enlarge

A massive earthquake barreled through Alaska's Interior early Sunday afternoon, triggering mudslides, splitting roadbeds and causing a shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

The 7.9 quake hit at 1:12 p.m., according to the Alaska Earthquake Information Center in Fairbanks. The epicenter was about 80 miles south of Fairbanks, 45 miles east-northeast of Cantwell and 50 miles east-southeast of Healy.

Roger Hansen, state seismologist, said two plates stretching about 150 miles slid against each other to create the quake.

It was the largest in the Interior since 1947, when a 7.2 was recorded about 50 miles south-southwest of Fairbanks. Seismologists at the earthquake center Sunday said that the quake ranks among the 10 strongest recorded in Alaska.

"My boyfriend was out on the four-wheeler and was telling us the tundra was like a bowl full of jelly, just shaking," said Janet Powers, who lives 20 miles north of Healy. "Your first thoughts are: Is the house going to stay on the foundation? Do I get up and go out or what? I stayed inside, went through it very calmly, then found out it was a 7.9."

Guy Tytgat, a geophysicist with the earthquake center, said the quake could be felt throughout Alaska and as far away as Louisiana because it was shallow, only three miles deep.

"I'm from Southern California and I know earthquakes, and this was a hell of an earthquake," said Mike Mergen, who was working at Chugach Electric in Beluga, across Cook Inlet from Anchorage. "I work in the kitchen, and everything hanging from the racks was just rocking. It just kept going."

Alaska State Troopers reported only one injury. A 76-year-old Mentasta woman broke an arm falling down the stairs as she tried to leave her home.

Temblors rattled Alaskans and property from Yakutat to McCarthy to Galena and along the Kenai Peninsula. On Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage, 270 miles south of the epicenter, wary folks wandered out of buildings and stood along sidewalks as parked cars and trucks jolted with every wave.

Damage to homes and personal belongings in the state was minor but reportedly widespread throughout the Interior. Windows and drywall cracked. Pictures leaped from walls. Cabinets spilled open. Fuel tanks tipped over. Near Skagway in Southeast Alaska, Dimitra Lavrakas said water in Lower Lake gushed back and forth "like a bore tide."

In Seattle, more than 1,400 miles away, some houseboats shook loose from their moorings. About 3,000 miles away, in New Orleans, geophysicists said Alaska's quake sloshed water around in ponds, bayous and pools.

Paul Whitmore, a geophysicist at the Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, said the quake didn't spur a tsunami, probably because it was so far inland.

"That would have been something if it was right under Anchorage,ç he said.

There was no official length of time recorded for the quake, said Steve Estes, a geophysicist with the earthquake center.

"It kind of depended on where you were," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone felt it for a couple minutes."

It felt more like 10 minutes, said Pat Speer, co-owner of Pat and Windell's Bed and Breakfast in Healy.

"We live in a basement house, and it was rocking and rolling down here," Speer said. "It didn't seem like it was ever going to quit."

The violent shaking triggered the pipeline's automatic detection system, said Mike Heatwole, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. spokesman. Operators then manually shut down the 800-mile pipeline shortly after 2 p.m.

The pipe did not break and no oil spilled, he said, but the quake damaged some brackets that support the pipeline about 48 miles south of Delta Junction. Heatwole could not say when the pipe would reopen.

The Alaska Railroad stopped trains immediately after the earthquake. Trains rolled again about three hours later, after track and bridges were inspected, evening chief dispatcher Donald Jubb said.

Alaska roadways were devastated. Pavement crinkled. Slabs of asphalt sank. In some places, streets ripped open, rendering travel impossible.

Department of Transportation spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy said transportation officials closed the Tok Cutoff from Mile 64 to 80 because of rock slides and undriveable roadbed. Along several hundred yards between Mile 75 and 77, there are open gashes in the concrete as wide as 6 feet, McCarthy said.

Crews also closed 80 miles of the Richardson Highway between Delta and Paxson, 178 miles south of Fairbanks. Around Mile 197, the quake crunched the road like an accordion and left cracks 2 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Gaps along the highway between Mile 205 and 210 are up to 8 feet deep, McCarthy said.

Jim Little, head of maintenance and operations for the Fairbanks Department of Transportation office, said crews would work through Sunday night and all day today. Roads could reopen this morning, he said.

"All the roads are closed, so we're kind of trapped," said Stephanie Edmonds, manager at Fast Eddy's Restaurant in Tok. With the cutoff throttled and Richardson Highway damaged, travel options from Tok were limited, she said.

Edmonds said patrons buzzed about the quake. It seemed like nearly everyone in the town of about 1,400 people had something damaged.

"Here at the restaurant our chandelier was swinging and hitting the ceiling," Edmonds said. "It was very dramatic.

"I got one window cracked, and everything came off my shelves. All of our water is coming up brown. And we've had lots of aftershocks."

Estes said the earthquake information center recorded hundreds of aftershocks Sunday 150 miles from the epicenter. The largest, registering 5.1, hit at 3:50 p.m. and was centered roughly 50 miles south of Delta Junction.

"There goes another aftershock right now," said Jimmy Tohill, speaking from Healy about 1:33 p.m. Sunday. Tohill said he also felt a quake about 9:47 a.m. Sunday, a 4.0 about 50 miles from Healy.

When the big quake hit on Sunday afternoon, he thought it would be another "normal tremor."

"Then there were a couple huge bangs," Tohill said. "We had a couple pictures fall off the wall. Everything on the walls was crooked. I've never felt one this size."

Interior residents rode out another significant earthquake Oct. 23 that measured 6.7 centered about 85 miles south of Fairbanks.

Sunday's quake was 20 times stronger. Both occurred along the Denali fault, which curves from Canada through the heart of the Alaska Range.

The Denali fault is the longest in the United States where crustal plates slip past each other horizontally. Land south of the fault creeps west. Land north of the fault creeps east. When the two sides lock up, sometimes for decades, pressure builds. When they finally slip, that's an earthquake.

Sunday's earthquake was centered just east of the Oct. 23 tremor. Having the two back-to-back rumblings isn't unheard of, Tytgat said.

"The whole fault was probably loaded with stress. One part broke, and that put more stress on the rest of the fault," Tytgat said. "That's probably why it failed."

Jack Lawson, owner and operator of Reindeer Mountain Lodge in Cantwell, said Sunday's quake was the hardest he had felt since the monster Good Friday earthquake of 1964.

"It was stronger than the one we had last week," Lawson said. "There was lots of rumbling. The house was moving around so much I couldn't really tell which was rumbling from the earthquake and which was the house moving around."

Fairbanks was the most populated area hit. In the gift shop at River's Edge RV Park and Campground, a $72 ceramic bear statue toppled over and broke.

"I'm from Japan and they have a lot of earthquakes, but this one was bigger, much bigger," said Yuko Komatsu, a park employee and University of Alaska Fairbanks student who was up until 4 a.m. Sunday writing a paper.

"So I was in bed, and it started shaking," Komatsu said. "My closet door was open, so I closed that because I didn't want anything to fall on me. I'm glad we don't have tall buildings."