A quake with a magnitude of 7.6 gave Juneau a jolt just before midnight Friday night.
According to the National Weather Service, the point of origin for the quake was 205 miles south of Juneau. NWS has issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas between and including the north tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia to Cape Suckling, located 75 miles southeast of Cordova.
It is suggested that in a warning area, people move inland to higher ground. In an advisory area, moving off the beach and out of harbors and marinas is suggested.
A valley resident emailed the Empire to say the quake "shook my Juneau home violently enough to awaken the entire family. No apparent damage."
Aftershocks in Craig rumbled until 3 a.m.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 7.5 earth quake shook residents of Craig into the early hours of Saturday morning. The quake occurred around midnight, its epicenter approximately 60 miles west of the Prince of Wales Island community.
“It woke everybody up,” 20-year Craig resident Bob Claus said in a telephone interview Saturday morning, “It was a long one. Things were falling off shelves. It was definitely the biggest I’ve ever felt.”
Claus said he didn’t see a tsunami come into Craig. He said he lives on a hill so he didn’t have to evacuate, though dozens of people left homes nearer the water.
“There was more traffic than anybody’s seen in Craig at night,” Claus said, “And it was all heading out of town an up into the hills.”
Claus said he was awoken by several aftershocks — the last shake at around 3 a.m.
“The Pacific plate is active,” Claus said, taking into account Friday’s temblor and a magnitude 6.4 quake near the Queen Charlotte Islands on Oct. 28 “makes it a little more interesting place to live.”
NOAA offers an interactive earthquake map.
Empire reporter Russell Stigall contributed to this report.
Update at 1:42 a.m.: The magnitude has been updated to 7.5 and a small tsunami has been observed at Port Alexander, NOAA reports. Update at 2:02 a.m.: The Tsunami warning is no longer in effect, NOAA reports.
Update at 10:44 a.m.: Quotes from Craig, Alaska resident added.
Comments (42)
Add commentI know it's early, but...
I know it's early, but... You people really do need a spellchecker. Also, supplying the link to NOAA might have been a nice touch.
Thanks!!
Glad someone at the Empire is on it! Thanks for getting something online and updating as things unfold.
Yes, thank you. I shouldn't
Yes, thank you. I shouldn't always be so grumpy when quakes wake me up ;)
Embedded link
If you hold your mouse over "earthquake map" you should be able to follow the link to the map, mori88.
Earthquake
Broken things in my house; took awhile to clean up broken glass and kerosine from a lantern.
Thank you, Melissa. No mouse
Thank you, Melissa. No mouse on dumb ol' ipad :( but thanks again, cuz I didn't realize you could do that. The spellcheck word I was so catty about was "apperant" in 2nd to last paragraph.
EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LISTENED TO RADIO, TV OR CABLE, THEN EVENTUALLY HAD TO GOOGLE THE DARN THING. I FELT THE EARTHQUAKE FOR ALMOST A MINUTE. CALLED AROUND TO EVERYBODY, LISTENED TO RADIO, CABLE AND HEARD NOTHING!! WHERE DO WE GO TO HEAR UP TO DATE NEWS. SITKA HAD TO EVACUATE AND THERE MAY BE MORE EARTHQUAKES EVEN STRONGER.
I TRIED EVERYTHING BELIEVE ME I TRIED! WHERE!
RELY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE? HUH?
Link to NOAA site
For those unable to access the embedded link, you can go here: http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/
The weather channel (71 on
The weather channel (71 on GCI) had tsunami info scrolling.
I googled "USGS earthquake" (USGS is US Geological Survey) earlier to get the earthquake info. Hope that helps, Grandma.
From the quake information center:
BULLETIN
PUBLIC TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3
NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
117 AM AKST SAT JAN 5 2013
THE MAGNITUDE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO 7.5 AND A SMALL TSUNAMI
HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT PORT ALEXANDER, ALASKA.
...THE TSUNAMI WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT...
WARNINGS/ADVISORIES/WATCHES - UPDATED
-------------------------------------
TSUNAMI WARNING IN EFFECT FOR...
* THE COASTAL AREAS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE
NORTH TIP OF VANCOUVER ISLAND BRITISH COLUMBIA TO CAPE
FAIRWEATHER ALASKA/LOCATED 80 MILES SE OF YAKUTAT/
CANCELLATIONS
-------------
* THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS CANCELED FOR THE COASTAL AREAS OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA FROM THE WASHINGTON-BRITISH COLUMBIA
BORDER TO THE NORTH TIP OF VANCOUVER ISLAND BRITISH
COLUMBIA
* THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS CANCELED FOR THE COASTAL AREAS OF
ALASKA FROM CAPE FAIRWEATHER ALASKA/LOCATED 80 MILES SE OF
YAKUTAT/ TO CAPE SUCKLING ALASKA/LOCATED 75 MILES SE OF
CORDOVA/
* THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS CANCELED FOR THE COASTAL AREAS OF
ALASKA FROM CAPE SUCKLING ALASKA/LOCATED 75 MILES SE OF
CORDOVA/ TO KENNEDY ENTRANCE ALASKA/LOCATED 40 MILES SW OF
HOMER/
Amazing how Juneau centric
Amazing how Juneau centric this report is. You'd think the epicenter was closest to Juneau and not the other side of Sitka. Half of Petersburg is up at the ballfields!
From what I have been reading
From what I have been reading via the Juneau Empire Facebook page and friends, some communities farther south and less sheltered than Juneau from the open ocean are evacuating inland to higher ground. What people have experienced varies by location, but so far no injuries or major damage have been reported.
Tsunami warning cancelled
BULLETIN
PUBLIC TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 4
NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
158 AM AKST SAT JAN 5 2013
...THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS CANCELLED...
CANCELLATIONS
-------------
* THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS CANCELED FOR THE COASTAL AREAS OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE NORTH TIP OF VANCOUVER
ISLAND BRITISH COLUMBIA TO CAPE FAIRWEATHER ALASKA/LOCATED
80 MILES SE OF YAKUTAT/
IMPACTS - UPDATED
-----------------
* A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED DURING THIS EVENT BUT NO LONGER
POSES A THREAT.
* SOME AREAS MAY CONTINUE TO SEE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES.
* THE DETERMINATION TO RE-OCCUPY HAZARD ZONES MUST BE MADE BY
LOCAL OFFICIALS.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS - UPDATED
-----------------------------
* DO NOT RE-OCCUPY HAZARD ZONES UNTIL LOCAL EMERGENCY OFFICIALS
INDICATE IT IS SAFE TO DO SO.
OBSERVATIONS OF TSUNAMI ACTIVITY - UPDATED
------------------------------------------
TIME OBSERVED MAX
SITE OF MEASUREMENT TSUNAMI HEIGHT
---------------------------- --------------- --------------
PORT ALEXANDER AK 1026 UTC 01-05 00.5FT
SITKA AK 1041 UTC 01-05 00.3FT
Go to the USGS site
for realtime earthquake info. You can sort for Alaska:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
Dang - I slept right thru it
Dang - I slept right thru it . . .
those emergency alert
those emergency alert drills that interrupt my tv watching / radio listening are useless.....i leave either my tv/radio 24/7 for these alerts, I EXPECT THEM TO COME ON WHEN EARTHQUAKE/ANY DISASTER IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING
North Douglas
We felt it on North Douglas. Woke up everyone. Fun stuff!
I doubt anyone on March 27,
I doubt anyone on March 27, 1964 thought it was "fun stuff". Earthquakes are terrifying and should be taken seriously.
Inept: Public Servants and Warning System:
Like to know how much we spend on warning systems that do not work here in Juneau the states capital. Called the Police department 3 times at about midnight, and later, with little or no help on the status of the tsunami for the Juneau area in getting information on what area's would be effected. As the JRC never put up the warnings. This needs to change, and for the better soon.
Juneau needs to coordinate
I was scared while experiencing the earthquake. My family was calling each other worried, wondering what to do, where to go. All of the local channels were not reporting any news. We received the Tsunami warning for North, East, and Central Juneau. I had no idea if our home was in this location. I had no idea where we were suppose to go to in the event of an evacuation. I couldn't be the only one. There are many new residents from the military services, school district, state employees and those moving from outlining villages.
Juneau needs to coordinate news and guidance. We got more news on facebook then any media outlets. We are fortunate in Juneau it wasn't serious and we had to evacuate.
Juneau lets get prepared.
Wake up folks CBJ has put
Wake up folks CBJ has put "public safety" last on their list of priorities.
Remember this when election time comes up folks.
Juneau is not in much danger
Juneau is not in much danger of a tsunami from an earthquake. For all other emergencies, people can google "emergency plan Juneau" and find a PDF of our city emergency plan.
I imagine the people voicing concern in this forum probably had a hard time getting directions of what to do in an emergency because an emergency wasn't declared for this area. Just my thoughts.
Sheqelim
If a large earthquake triggers a land slide in the inside passage. Would you still say Juneau is not in any danger of a tsunami?
O
O
Yep, loud and clear on the
Back Loop. Wiggled the dogs and I awake, and rattled some bottles in the liquor cabinet.
Since I don't have a boat in one of the harbors, I went back to sleep. If the dogs weren't on edge, no need for me to be.
I guess some find security, in worrying.......
Double-X
I'm not going to rule it out, and neither will emergency services, but if there is an earthquake strong enough and close enough to create a landslide-triggered tsunami that can power through and swamp island-sheltered Juneau, I imagine that earthquake itself will probably already be devastating Juneau.
Anyone accessing these
Anyone accessing these boards, from home, EASILY could have done a search and found information on the quake updating every few mins. And yes, a quake effecting most inside communities would probably destroy them with no amount of warning helping. Just saying... Calm down and breath. :)
yikes
I hope everyone's okay.
Does Juneau have a Civil
Does Juneau have a Civil Defense Siren?
Attention or Alert Warning—A 3 to 5 minute steady signal from sirens, horns, or other devices. Local government officials may authorize use of this signal to alert the public of peacetime emergencies. Besides any other meaning or requirement for action as determined by local government officials, the Attention or Alert signal will indicate to all persons in the United States, "Turn on your radio or television and listen for essential emergency information".
Once residents hear the siren they should beable to tune into a local radio station that should be running a direct feed from the National Weather Service describing the danger in real time and updating it constantly.
Here's a site in the UK with some pictures!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257581/Earthquake-shakes-Alaska...