Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state. Here is why Wednesday's earthquake was notable
Officials said Thursday they had received no reports of injuries or major damage from the latest event, which triggered a tsunami warning that lasted about an hour before being downgraded and prompted communities along a 700-mile (1,127-km) stretch of Alaska's southern coast to urge people to move to higher ground. The official maximum wave height at Sand Point, a community 55 miles (88 kilometers) north of the epicenter, was about 3.9 inches (10 centimeters), said Kara Sterling, a lead duty scientist at the National Tsunami Warning Center. It occurred at low tide.
Earthquake sparked tsunami warnings
The earthquake struck at 12:37 p.m. local time, prompting the center's tsunami warning.
There are a number of ways people in warning areas can receive notifications, including the sounding of sirens in communities that have them, listening to weather radio or public radio broadcasts, following official accounts on social media, or via push alerts on cellphones. In some places, local officials have relayed warnings door to door, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson with the state's emergency management division.
Public safety departments in King Cove and Unalaska sent alerts urging those in coastal areas or those that could see inundation to seek higher ground.
The warning issued by the center was downgraded to an advisory before being canceled around 2:45 p.m.
Alaska is one of world's most seismically active regions
Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state in the U.S. and one of the most seismically active regions in the world, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The state experiences a magnitude 7 earthquake almost annually, and the second-largest earthquake ever recorded was centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Anchorage, the agency said. That 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake -- and the tsunami it triggered -- killed about 130 people.
The Aleutian arc is no stranger to earthquakes, but the activity in the region where Wednesday's earthquake struck has gotten scientists' attention. The area, within a few hundred miles of the earthquake, has "lit up" since 2020, with Wednesday's earthquake marking the fifth exceeding magnitude 7.0 since 2020, said state seismologist Michael West.
"I would not call this an isolated earthquake. It appears to be part of a larger sequence spanning the last several years," he said. But West added: "There's no reason to be alarmist about this."
People should continue to heed warnings, officials say
Some communities have buildings designated on higher ground as meetup points during tsunami warnings, such as a school, while others might simply urge residents to retreat up a hillside, Zidek said.
"That area of Alaska, most areas of Alaska, it gets steep real quick," he said.
Sometimes, the only warning one might have is the shaking ground, Zidek said. "If it shakes violently for 20 seconds or more, that is your warning sign, and you should head to higher ground if you're in a coastal area," he said.
Zidek and West said people should continue to heed warnings. West said he worries about a "burnout effect" among residents in the region, some of whom have evacuated numerous times since 2018 in response to larger earthquakes that have not caused significant damage.
West said he is reminded of a magnitude 8.6 earthquake in 1946 -- west of the location of Wednesday's quake -- that generated a deadly tsunami and led to the creation of a U.S. tsunami warning system. The death toll included more than 150 people in Hawaii, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"This area is capable of trans-Pacific tsunamis, and I feel like maybe the best way to stay vigilant ... is maybe to look into our deeper history beyond just the last five years," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
7 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Weakened Gil Now a Tropical Storm in the Eastern Pacific with No Threat to Land Expected
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Gil weakened into a tropical storm in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday and was not forecast to threaten land. The Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm's maximum sustained winds dropped to 65 mph (100 kph). It was about 1,440 miles (2,320 kilometers) west of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and was moving west-northwest at 21 mph (33 kph). Further weakening was forecast, and no coastal watches or warnings were in effect. It is a busy period for storms in the eastern Pacific. Other storms could develop in the coming days in the eastern Pacific, forecasters said.
Japan Today
16 hours ago
- Japan Today
Smoke from Canadian wildfires brings unhealthy air to large swaths of the Midwest
People sun tan on the Lakefront Trail on the North Side as a haze of Canadian wildfire smoke blankets the Chicago area and creates poor air quality, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) By CAROLYN THOMPSON and DORANY PINEDA Smoke from Canadian wildfires hovered over several Midwestern states Saturday, bringing warnings of unhealthy air for at least the third day. Air quality alerts were in effect in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as eastern Nebraska and parts of Indiana and Illinois. Forecasters said the smoky skies would remain for much of the day. People with lung disease, heart disease, children, older adults and pregnant women are most susceptible to the poor breathing conditions. Canadian environmental officials said smoke from forest fires that was causing reduced visibility and poor quality would persist into Sunday for some areas. The Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir, which assesses air quality in real time, listed the city of Minneapolis as having some of the worst air pollution in the world since Friday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to reach the red or unhealthy category in a large swath of Minnesota and will likely remain through Saturday. AQI is a system used to communicate how much air pollution is in the air. It breaks pollution down into six categories and colors, and advice on what isn't safe to do. They range from 'good' (the color green) to 'hazardous' (maroon). The smoke could start to decline beginning Saturday before spreading as far south as Tennessee and Missouri. The air could remain unhealthy for sensitive groups through Monday, state health officials said. The EPA's Air Quality Index converts all pollutant levels into a single number. The lower the number, the better. Anything below 50 is classified as 'healthy.' Fifty to 100 is 'moderate' while 100-150 is unhealthy for 'sensitive groups." Anything above 150 is bad for everyone. Parts of Minnesota exceeded that number on Saturday. Health officials advise people with asthma and other lung disease, heart disease, children and older adults to avoid prolonged exposure to smoke and limit strenuous activities. They said to avoid burning things that could make the air pollution worse, and keep windows and doors closed to keep the smoke from getting inside. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Mainichi
a day ago
- The Mainichi
Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupts again, spewing giant ash plumes miles away
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, erupted for a second straight day, sending a column of volcanic materials and ash up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky early Saturday and blanketing villages with debris. No casualties were immediately reported. Another eruption Friday evening had sent clouds of ash up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) high and had lit up the night sky with glowing lava and bolts of lightning. The two eruptions happened in a span of less than five hours. Indonesia's Geology Agency recorded an avalanche of searing gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava traveling up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) down the slopes of the mountain. Drone observations showed deep movement of magma, setting off tremors that registered on seismic monitors. Volcanic material, including hot thumb-sized gravel, was thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater, covering nearby villages and towns with thick volcanic residue, the agency said. It asked residents to be vigilant about heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano. Saturday's eruption was one of Indonesia's largest since 2010 when Mount Merapi, the country's most volatile volcano, erupted on the densely populated island of Java. That eruption killed more than 350 people and forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate. It also came less than a month after a major eruption on July 7 forced the delay or cancelation of dozens of flights at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport, and covered roads and rice fields with thick, gray mud and rocks. Lewotobi Laki Laki, a 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano on the remote island of Flores, has been at the highest alert level since it erupted on June 18, and an exclusion zone has been doubled to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius as eruptions became more frequent. The Indonesian government has permanently relocated thousands of residents after a series of eruptions there killed nine people and destroyed thousands of homes in November. Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 280 million people with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
