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 Update at 2:02 a.m.: The Tsunami warning is no longer in effect, NOAA reports.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 commentJuneau emergency plan as of 2003:
http://www.juneau.org/emergency/documents/EOP2003.pdf
Where's my government in my time of need ....
OMG .... OMG ..... where's my government in my time of need. I don't know what to do and I'm sooo afraid because my government isn't telling me what to do. Oh .... help me. I need my government.
Lituya in Juneau?
When I felt the quake I wasn't too worried about a tsunami making it all the way inside to Juneau, but then I started thinking about Lituya Bay.
When Lituya had its massive tsunami (1,720 ft high) in 1958, it was caused by a landslide at the end of the bay, triggered by an 8.3 earthquake located in Glacier Bay.
An 8.3 quake is substantially larger than last night's 7.5, but by itself it probably wouldn't "devastate Juneau". But if a big landslide occurred along one of the bluffs, say in Stephens Passage or Lynn Canal, we could get blasted. And because those channels are so deep, the tsunami would propagate very rapidly until it reached Juneau.
Would be interesting to know how valid that threat is.
Not sure I follow
How did boulders from Mt Juneau get on Mt Roberts?
Megathrust
Do a little research folks... there is a huge difference between a slip-strike fault and a megathrust fault...
SE Alaska is located on a Slip Strike Fault... which is why you have not seen tsunamis off the last two major earthquake events.Megathrusts cause Tsunamis... Slip Strike Faults typically do not.
Also the faults here run parallel to the coast... a tsunami runs perpendicular to the fault... not parallel to it... so a quake out front of Sitka is a far bigger concern than a quake to the south of Sitka.
Juneau is lucky in that we have the islands to work as breaking mounds.
I am not saying Juneau is not at risk... You could duplicate the largest tsunami ever in theory... by a landslide into the ocean... but we have never had a local earthquake bigger than a 6.
So... it would take the worst earthquake ever to hit Juneau... followed by a landslide... very nearby... and if this ever happens... you wont have time for an Emergency Alert to let you know to evacuate...
If you are concerned I would say this... If an earthquake is big enough to knock you down... Seek higher ground... If you dont experience any event in 3o minutes... its not close enough to affect Juneau...
This is todays Tsunami Simple Thought...
LOL
when in danger
when in doubt
run in circles
scream and shout
Simple thoughts you are right
Simple thoughts you are right on the money. If we were at risk for a tsunami there would have been announcements of what to do. Juneau is at low risk for a big wave. We are susceptible to tidal surges.
Dogs and earthquakes
Tsunami
Kudos to fireguy. The danger to Juneau would be rising water, not Tsunami. ~ ~ ~ Just a note, and not trying to be funny here. Thank goodness, this did not occur on December 21st. That would have shook people into believing the Mayans were right. Irregardless of where we live. it is up to us, as individuals to know before events occur what we are suppose to do. Take the time today, to set up your links to the emergency services dealing with what your threats are. Plan today for the disasters tomorrow. That is what the 'fire evacuation plan' is about. You don't wait till a fire is in progress to figure out how to get out of your house. I would bet, most complainers have never looked at, and studied, the evacuation maps for your place of employment, hotels, hospitals, etc. Also, while you are preparing today, lay out a second plan, just in case the first one doesn't work.
i decide whats dangerous and
i decide whats dangerous and steps for my family to take....public safetys job is to put out info/alert asap.....perfect time to see the movie "the impossible" esp for those who take disaster/earthquake for granted and that juneau wont be in danger, but thanks for jinx
Hey Lat,
My Dad knew the old boy who was in his fishing boat and survived the tsunami by getting carried completely over the island! Can you imagine?
Just a couple of comments
I felt it a great deal near the airport. It seemed to last for over a minute, maybe longer. Not sure though. I immediately looked at the NOAA web site and found the tsunami warning. I also was able to see the location and magnitude.
On TV, Fox News had a ticker on the bottom of the screen within 5 minutes or less. The warning system came on within a few minutes also.
The key is to have a plan for different scenarios. Our plan was to go to Mountainside Estates. It is the highest place we know of that we can drive to.
Being prepared is the key.
First-rate wishes from KASYNA!
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