Saving Seafood

Major quake hits off the coast of Alaska, triggers tsunami warnings but no large waves

July 30, 2021 — A major earthquake struck near the Alaska Peninsula at 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, triggering tsunami warnings for much of the Gulf of Alaska coastline, but no large waves.

The magnitude-8.2 quake hit roughly 60 miles offshore of the tiny community of Perryville, reported the U.S. Geological Survey.

“This is the largest earthquake to happen in the Alaska region since 1965,” said Michael West, state seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center.

There were no immediate reports of major injuries or damage, but officials said that could change as people get a better look over the next few days.

After the initial tsunami warnings late Wednesday, the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer said at midnight that the waves caused by the quake were likely to be smaller than a foot.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

7.5-magnitude “shaker” prompts tsunami warning from Aleutians to Kenai Peninsula

October 20, 2020 — Residents of coastal Alaska, from Sand Point to Kodiak, scrambled for higher ground and motored boats into deeper water Monday afternoon after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit near Sand Point and triggered a tsunami warning.

Large waves did not appear, but life in the communities was disrupted by the emergency.

Residents from Unalaska to the Kenai Peninsula reported to the USGS that they’d felt the earthquake. The National Weather Service downgraded the warning to an advisory toward the end of the afternoon.

Raynelle Gardner, who works at the Sand Point School, said residents felt the violent shaking of the first quake. She hadn’t felt any aftershocks because she had been driving, but as she spoke on the phone, she watched the Alaska Earthquake Center website as it ticked off one that rippled through the area.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Ring of Fire lights up: Earthquakes near proposed Pebble Mine site

January 28, 2020 — This morning, residents in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region reported waking to a magnitude 3.6 earthquake near the proposed Pebble Mine site just before 6 a.m.

Earthquakes in Alaska are nothing new. But the rate of activity has increased. According to the Alaska Earthquake Center, 2018 and 2019 took first and second place for the most earthquakes recorded in the state: “With a total of 50,289 reported earthquakes, 2019 finished as a runner up to the record-breaking 2018. The earthquake depths ranged between zero and 165 miles.”

What does this have to do with mining and fisheries? Stay with me.

As we cannot yet predict seismic activity, we do the next best thing: Build to withstand earthquakes.

The 7.1 quake that hit Anchorage in November 2018, followed by a 5.7 aftershock and hundreds of aftershocks for days and weeks after, caused no fatalities. Why? Because we have engineered our lives and structures to survive earthquakes, especially in the Ring of Fire.

Read the full story at National Fisherman