If you ’re from Alaska ( like me ) then you ’re no alien to the rattling , windowpane shake earthquake that jar so many of us upright in the middle of the nighttime . You ’ve in spades feltearthquakesmore time than you ’ve seen the northern spark and , chance are , you ’ve evacuate to higher ground on at least one function .
At 12:31 am thousands of Alaskans were arouse up by a 7.9 magnitudeearthquakethat struck 181 miles southeast of Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska . It propel tsunamiwarningsall over Alaska , the US west coast and British Columbia . It ’s just one of the 1,000 seism the state will see just thismonth .
It ’s all because of Alaska ’s fix in theRing of Fire , a sprawling 40,000 - kilometer ( 25,000 - international mile ) area home to90 percentof the world ’s earthquake and 75 percent of all active volcanoes .
These earthquakes and volcanoes are the termination of a process calledsubduction . It occurs along tectonic plates – divisions in the solid ground ’s crust – and the Gulf of Alaska is located on the edge of two of the large .
Under most of Alaska , the Pacific Plate is being press under the North American Plate to mould a subduction zone . The two can move smoothly over each other or become stuck . When stuck , they build up strain and eventually release the intense military group thatcauses earthquakes .
Alaska is one of the most seismically fighting field in the human beings and has more earthquakes than any other region . It also has enceinte ones . On average , one “ Great ” earthquake – order of magnitude eight or larger – will sway the stateevery 13 geezerhood .
This seism was a big one , but notthe magnanimous onegeologists say will destroy a portion of the coastal Northwest .
It ’s a game oftectonic roulettedepending on where that press is accumulating . Tuesday ’s earthquake was not generated where the Pacific Ocean seafloor slides under the North American dental plate , but rather farther out where the fault moves horizontally . It ’s call a bang - slip earthquake and it ’s less likely to trigger large tsunamis , which is is why Alaska saw waves of less than underway .
Earthquakes on the subduction zone itself , however , move vertically on the seabed and get devastating resultant - like the order of magnitude 9 temblor in Japan that trip 126 foot waves and bolt down 20,000 masses in2011 , the 2004 quake off the coast of Indonesia that caused a tsunami that killed more then 200,000 people , or the 1964 9.2 magnitude Alaska seism that was the most powerful in the US and killed100 people .
“ I ’ve been through earthquakes before so I keep my head on my pillow hold back for it to end , ” said Kodiak resident Megan Roderick in an audience with IFLScience . “ The intensity increased within second . My bed matte up like a forged motel massage . ”
The United States Geological Survey says little to no harm was triggered by the quake , and some Alaskans were equally unfazed .
“ It felt like any other earthquake , so I went back to sleep and did n’t think anything of it , ” Anchorage mediate school instructor Patrick McCormick secern us . “ I would have forgotten about it . ”
