By Suzanne Downing 
Editor’s note: The earthquake has been downgraded to a 6.0 from earlier, when it was rated 6.2.
If your Elf on the Shelf seemed to leap to life this Thanksgiving morning, you weren’t imagining things. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck at 8:11 am AKST, giving Alaskans from the Mat-Su to Anchorage a jolt strong enough to rattle kitchen cabinets, sway holiday tables, and send more than a few elves tumbling from their perches.
According to the Alaska Earthquake Center, the quake was centered 26 miles southwest of Willow at a depth of 50.9 miles (82 km). The shaking went on for several long seconds — long enough for residents to stop and wonder if this was going to be a repeat of the 2018 Anchorage earthquake — but early reports show no immediate damage.
Across Southcentral, people described a rolling, sustained motion that felt familiar. Many recalled the morning of Nov. 30, 2018, when a magnitude 7.1 quake hit near Anchorage at 8:29 am, cracking roads, buckling bridges, damaging schools and homes, and collapsing an on-ramp at the International Airport Road and Minnesota Boulevard interchange. That quake caused more than $75 million in estimated damage but, remarkably, no fatalities.
Today’s event was noticeably less severe, but strong enough to be widely felt on a holiday morning when families were preparing turkeys, gathering for parades on television, or enjoying a quiet start to the day. So far, state and local agencies have not reported structural damage or injuries, and utilities remain stable.
The Alaska Earthquake Center continues to monitor the Thanksgiving quake and its aftershocks. For most Alaskans, it will serve as another reminder of life on the fault lines, and another story to tell at the Thanksgiving table, right alongside the cranberry sauce and the Elf who couldn’t hang on.