Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes (oh my...) by PA2AKgirl
I am not putting this in a warning because I'm a huge admirer of and have great respect for Mother Nature's power:) Anchorage, like most of Alaska, has frequent earthquakes. In fact, the state has more earthquakes than the rest of the US states combined. While the risk is greater in some places, Anchorage has already been devastated by a major earthquake and it?s very likely to happen again (the major earthquake part). Small earthquakes happen here all the time?.we had one last night about 30 miles away and in the past 24 hours, 30 have occurred. But these are so tiny that we don?t even feel them. This does give you an idea of how frequent they are.
Here?s a list of averages for the southern part of Alaska:
One magnitude 8 or larger earthquake every 13 years.
One magnitude 7 to 8 earthquake every year.
Four and a half magnitude 6 to 7 earthquakes per year.
Twenty magnitude 5 to 6 earthquakes per year.
Ninety magnitude 4 to 5 earthquakes per year.There?s really no way to plan your vacation around an earthquake that hasn?t happened yet, but the state does have a ton of information on what you can do to prepare yourself in the event it does happen. In Anchorage, we have alarms, tests, literature, websites, information on TV, people and instruments to monitor activity. Since it is a coastal area, we also have a risk of tsunamis. There are evacuation areas that take you up to higher ground with shelters. Luckily, in the event something happens in another part of the pacific, there is enough time to put out a warning. Oh, there?s lot of volcanoes not that far away, too but they give you a little more time to get out and there's none right in the city.
W/ the picture...looks like if you're in that situation, you're probably already in trouble;-)
