Alaska earthquakes - July 2015
A magnitude 6.46 earthquake tonight at 6:35 p.m. Alaska time, felt around Anchorage. Facebook is lit up about the length and severity of the shaking. There were 7 aftershocks within an hour. Some f...
Forum Discussion
Must have been a slow news day for a 6.4 quake in Alaska to get TV coverage. Sue, I just realized the Good Friday earthquake was the day before you turned 6 years old. The 9.2 quake in 1964, made a real mess out of lots of south central Alaska, especially Anchorage over towards Valdez. They moved Valdez to it's current location on deeper water to prevent future tsunami damage. The old location was at the head of the bay, in shallow water.
Perhaps the building codes in Alaska have improved, but most of the people I know that live in the Anchorage area are no better prepared for a disaster than they were in 1964. Much of the geography of Alaska was formed from being part of the Ring of Fire, with the accompanying volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. most of the valleys north of Mount McKinley, the Minto Flats and the Tanana valley toward Fairbanks were formed from long ago quakes. Small quakes are very common throughout most of Alaska. Very few cause any serious damage, but one day another 9+ quake will hit the state.
Perhaps the building codes in Alaska have improved, but most of the people I know that live in the Anchorage area are no better prepared for a disaster than they were in 1964. Much of the geography of Alaska was formed from being part of the Ring of Fire, with the accompanying volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. most of the valleys north of Mount McKinley, the Minto Flats and the Tanana valley toward Fairbanks were formed from long ago quakes. Small quakes are very common throughout most of Alaska. Very few cause any serious damage, but one day another 9+ quake will hit the state.
