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Yahoo
a day ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Alaska's largest city shakes as magnitude 4.2 quake rocks state
ALSWORTH, Alaska – A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shook southern Alaska on Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake happened at 11:17 a.m. local time, with the epicenter located about 31 miles east of the community of Port Alsworth and nearly 100 miles underground, the Alaska Earthquake Center said. Shaking was reported throughout the Cook Inlet region and as far away as Anchorage, which lies about 165 miles northeast of Port Alsworth. Port Alsworth is a remote community that is not connected to a road system, nor does it have grocery stores, according to the National Park Service. This is a developing story. Check back for article source: Alaska's largest city shakes as magnitude 4.2 quake rocks state
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Major US city that's on volcano watch is rocked by near-5.0 magnitude earthquake
A 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck just miles from an Alaskan city already on alert for a possible volcanic eruption. The Alaska Earthquake Center recorded the tremor near Hope at 12:03am local time (4:03am ET). The epicenter was located south of Anchorage, where thousands of residents reported feeling light shaking. Anchorage sits about 78 miles from Mount Spurr, which continues to show signs of unrest with elevated seismic activity and increased gas emissions. 'Felt it from 45 miles north of Anchorage—first heard the building creak, then came a solid shake followed by a slight rolling motion at the end,' one local shared online. Residents across the region have been warned to 'stay alert for aftershocks and follow local emergency guidance.' This is a developing story... More updates to come.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Earthquake activity in Alaska quieted a bit in 2024, but more landslides are being tracked
Seismic events that struck Alaska and neighboring areas in 2024 are shown in this map. Although there were fewer events than in preceding years, Alaska remains one of the world's most seismically active regions, and there were nearly 40,000 events throughout the year (Map provided by the Alaska Earthquake Center/University of Alaska Fairbanks) Alaska, one of the world's most seismically active locations, just completed a relatively quiet year for earthquakes but a busy year for landslides in the Southcentral region, according to an annual report issued by seismic experts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. There were 39,836 seismic events in Alaska and nearby regions in 2024, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center's newly released 2024 Alaska Seismicity Summary. That is about 5,700 fewer than in 2023 and about 15,000 fewer than in 2018, when a record was set, according to the center. Still, there were 50 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater, equating to about one a week, the center said. Seismic events are defined as earthquakes or any other earth-shaking phenomena. The year's seismic record was notable because, for the first time since the major Nov. 30, 2018, earthquake that damaged the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough areas, there were no detected aftershocks from that magnitude-7.1 event, the center said. There were, however, more than 1,000 aftershocks throughout the year from the magnitude-7.8 Simeonof earthquake that struck on July 21, 2020, off the Alaska Peninsula, the report said. The most powerful of those was measured at magnitude 5.6. The most powerful earthquakes in 2024 were two magnitude-6.3 events that occurred as part of a swarm of quakes that struck the central Aleutians in early December, the report said. The first of the magnitude-6.3 quakes occurred on Dec. 8 in the Andreanof Islands region, and the second occurred the following day, the report said. While there were fewer earthquakes detected in 2024 than in past years, a relatively new effort at the center has resulted in stepped-up monitoring of landslides in a region considered to be at elevated risk: Prince William Sound. That program uses an array of instruments to track the seismic signals of landslides, which are different from those produced by earthquakes. Seismic detections of landslides are followed by visual confirmation, under the new system. In 2024, the monitoring system identified 31 landslides, including some events that produced localized tsunamis. Five separate landslides occurred within the span of about an hour on Sept. 20 at Surprise Glacier, which is near Harriman Fjord in Prince William Sound. Together, they produced over 3.5 million cubic meters of debris, or 4.6 million cubic yards, the report said. They also produced a small but measurable tsunami, at 4 centimeters, or a little over 1.5 inches, the report said. These were the first Prince William Sound landslides with debris that reached the water since dedicated instrument-based landslide monitoring in the region started in 2020, the report said. A more significant tsunami resulted from an Aug. 7 landslide at Pederson Lagoon southwest of Seward. It dumped about 2 million cubic meters of material and generated a localized tsunami of about 17 meters, or nearly 56 feet, that damaged boardwalks at a local lodge and reached a Kenai National Park campsite, the report said. Another cluster of landslides detected by the instruments was at Denali National Park and Preserve, the report said. Other slides were detected elsewhere in Southcentral Alaska, mostly in coastal regions,. The landslide monitoring program is still being developed, said Elisabeth Nadin of the Alaska Earthquake Center. The hope is to have a landslide-related tsunami warning system, she said. The seismic-detection program is limited to an approximately 200-mile radius, so it does not cover the vast majority of Southeast Alaska. It was not used for the Aug. 25 Ketchikan landslide that killed one person, injured three others and damaged several houses. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
