ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A state energy specialist is encouraging those affected by last month’s earthquake in south-central Alaska to retest their homes for radon.

Radon is an odorless gas that has been linked to cancer. It is formed when uranium underground decays.

Art Nash is a state energy specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

He tells the Anchorage Daily News that under normal circumstances he recommends homeowners test for radon every five years. But he says that when the ground is disturbed, it can create fissures that allow radon to escape into the air.

Since it’s impossible to know where fissures may have formed, he recommends every homeowner affected by the earthquake retest their homes.

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook the Anchorage area and other parts of south-central Alaska on Nov. 30.