Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Earth quake statistics for Alaska, I knew that we had a lot of earthquakes here, because I have an email service that sends me notices of any earthquake 4.5 and over that occur all over the world. And Alaska is listed daily, most don’t affect us in the interior of Alaska, and half the time we don’t even feel the ones that are big enough to cause a stir. So I was amazed at the statistic chart on this web page:

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/features/earthquake/facts1.html

Road sunk in from 2002 7.9 Earthquake
Picture by Steve Fields

Here is some of what they listed:
Each year about 5,000 to 6,000 earthquakes shake the state of Alaska. That's an average of more than 13 each day!
Alaska has 11 percent of the world's earthquakes
Alaska has 52 percent of all the earthquakes in the United States.
Three of the six largest earthquakes in the world were in Alaska.
Seven of the ten largest earthquakes in the United States were in Alaska.

7.9 2002 Alaska Earthquake ground level changes

Picture by Unknown

7.9 ground shifting Earthquake broke the road in half

Picture by Steve Fields

Whew! I thought it seemed we always were having Earthquakes, the one I do remember very clearly was just a few years ago, it measured 7.9, was felt around the continent. It was one of the strongest ever recorded in the United States. This earthquake was so strong I couldn’t stand on my feet, or even attempt to walk, the whole building rocked back and forth; the ground was actually grinding and groaning so loud we were shouting to each other in the same room in order to be heard.

Huge crack in the Highway from 7.9 2002 Alaska Earthquake Picture by Steve Fields

I praise God that no-one died, there was only one injury (broken leg) from something falling on someone during the quake. There was a lot of property damage, and some houses in the surrounding villages were knocked off their pilings, and had to be lifted up and damage repaired. There were huge cracks in the highways where we live, you couldn’t drive on or around them the ground shifted higher in some places and sank in others.

Huge Crack and Hole in the Highway from 7.9 Alaska Earthquake, 2002 Picture by Unknown

One thing about rural Alaska, the structures here are solidly built, mostly with wood which seems more flexible during ground movement. There wasn’t much heavy duty structure damages, just minimal things like things falling over, knocked off shelves, some windows shattered and some ground damage of short cracks here and there. Some of the supports that hold up the Alaska Oil Pipeline were damaged and had to be repaired, but even the pipe held up beautifully.

Road Damage from the ground shifting of 7.9 Alaska Earthquake.2002

Picture by Steve Fields

It seemed during this quake, that it lasted forever. I had to hold onto a door frame near a wall to keep from falling, and the sound was deafening, after it was done, it got so quiet it was unreal. Now and then you could hear a child cough, and the air was full of dust, from dirt floating in the air from the massive movement of the ground. As we were hanging on to the doors, we were looking out a window watching parked cars that looked like they were galloping from the movement of the ground.

It was a pretty strange feeling to have the ground under you so out of control. And the aftershocks were about every hour or so for a long time and that kept people nervous, but eventually they stopped or got so small we didn’t notice them anymore.

Alaska has been really blessed with minimal casualties and injuries with some of the largest Earthquakes recorded in the United States!

Here is some information on this website on what to do during an earthquake, the only thing I can say is stay calm, screaming hysterically and running around in circles, does not do anything but frighten others. You need to keep a clear head just in case someone may need your help! You can have a nervous breakdown later when everyone is safe!

http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/aware/survival.html

CU