On July 22, 2020, an earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska. The seismic tremors had a magnitude of 7.8. It struck off the Alaskan peninsula late Tuesday.
What Happened?
The earthquake happened around 10:12 p.m. local time. The epicenter was found to be about 60 miles southeast of Perryville in the Pacific Ocean. Tsunami warnings were issued but were all canceled by early Wednesday. Strong quaking was reported on the peninsula. Kodiak reported light to weak shaking. Not a significant amount of damage was recorded merely because of the location. It happened away from larger cities.
The earthquake’s depth was 17 miles. Quakes below 70 kilometers are considered a shallow quake and cause the most damage. More than 20 aftershocks resulted from the original quake. The aftershocks ranged from 2.8 to 6.1 in magnitude as far as 500 miles away. However, no major structural damage occurred.
Who Was Involved?
In Kodiak, people left their homes to head for higher grounds, avoiding any tsunami that may occur. Others in Sand Point gathered in a school for protection until just past midnight. At that time tsunami warnings were canceled as it became evident that there would be no giant waves causing destruction that night.
This year alone, Alaska has 25,013 reported earthquakes. [1]
Notes:
- ^https://earthquake.alaska.edu/ (go back ↩)
