Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake Hits Alaska, EMSC Says

CC BY 2.0 / Flickr / Tom Purves / Alaska Shoreline
Alaska Shoreline - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.10.2021
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At the moment, no damage and potential victims of the tremors have been reported. No tsunami warning has been issued either.
The north-western US state of Alaska was shaken by a strong 5.2-magnitude earthquake on Thursday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) reported.
According to the preliminary data, the focus of the earthquake was located at a depth of 40 km below the ground away from the shore. The nearest populated area to the tremor is the town of Sand Point, located approximately 101 km northeast.
Alaska's biggest city, Anchorage, is located about 834 km southwest of the earthquake's location.
The local Alaska Earthquake Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute confirmed the tremor to be of a magnitude 5.1, although, "no reports of this event being felt have been received at this time."
The initial tremor was soon followed by an aftershock with a magnitude of 3.1, situated 25 km under the mainland, about 561 km from Anchorage, according to EMSC.
Weak tremors have been recorded by seismologists throughout the last week.
According to the US Geological Survey's research, throughout much of Alaska, earthquakes are quite common. Every one to two years, a magnitude 7 or greater earthquake occurs somewhere in or off the coast of Alaska, and every 13 years, a magnitude 8 or greater earthquake occurs.
These quakes are triggered by forces caused by tectonic plate movements that make up the Earth's outer shell. The Pacific Plate moves northward at a pace of several centimeters per year in this region, and sinks beneath the North American Plate, or "subducts."
The strongest earthquake to date, of a magnitude 9.2, shook the state on March 27, 1964, subsequently killing around 100 people. And according to the USGS, the earthquake lasted about four and a half minutes and was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the United States. It is also the world's second-strongest earthquake, after the M9.5 earthquake in Chile in 1960.
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