Earthquakes (Anchorage, Valdez, Seward: insurance, mortgage, house)

[Hawkeye48]

A friend of mine recently returned from Alaska and he mentioned Alaska is the most earthquake prone state in the country. Is this true? Are there any parts that are relatively safe from the quakes?

[Quadmonkey]

I found this link, after some brief searching about quake locations.
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program » Latest Earthquakes in the USA - Past 7 days

Looking at the data, it looks like AK does have a fair share of quakes, not as bad as Cali though.... good lord! Almost the whole coastline of CA was dotted with them, and consider the size of AK compared to CA. It can't be anywhere near as bad. Of course, given I have never been to AK, and have lived in CA, I can't say for sure. During my time in Bishop, CA, I went through a bunch of foreshocks, and finally a 6.2 quake, and then all the aftershocks... it was nothing.
The link I posted is from the USGS so I trust it to be accurate, as that is what those types live for. So make your own decision on what I think.

[RAMFEB31]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye48

A friend of mine recently returned from Alaska and he mentioned Alaska is the most earthquake prone state in the country. Is this true? Are there any parts that are relatively safe from the quakes?

Hey Hawk, Why are U so concerned about earthquake in this area? To my knowledge, there have never been a bad earthquake here in Alaska proper in recent years. Yes, there was some big problem in Seward 3 or 4 decades back but I believe that was caused by an offshore phenom. In my very recent former home, Ca.*, there is always talks of the "BIG ONE" coming very soon.

*Not a sure thing until I've actually purchase

[mal_flisk]

On the average, here in Anchorage I feel about one a week. Mostly minor 2 or three Richter scale. It has woken me on a couple of occasions, but I'm not the best sleeper in the world, as evidenced by my many late evenings (early mornings) on CD.

[Alaskan_Adventurer]

I just read about the height of the tsunami that was caused by the 64 quake. It reached 70 meters, omg. So that is over 200 feet high or 20 stories. Could you imagine?

[rotorhead]

Try a google search for the terms Lituya bay and tsunami. A landslide triggered by an earthquake there caused a tsunami that reached up over 1700 feet above sea level before it subsided. There were three fishing boats in the bay at the time, and amazingly enough two of them survived the waves sloshing around the narrow bay. Right place at the wrong time, I guess.

[sweetana3]

I was in Anchorage in 1964 for the Good Friday earthquake. If we had to have an earthquake, it was a good day because the schools were closed. There would have been hundreds killed if school was in session.

It is a most amazing thing to have the ground under your feet move in huge waves. Impossible to comprehend when it is happening. After all, ground is not supposed to move.

[MinuteMan]

Originally Posted by RAMFEB31

Yes, there was some big problem in Seward 3 or 4 decades back but I believe that was caused by an offshore phenom.

Seward's event happened during the 64 historic quake. A large section of waterfront slid into the bay. Valdez totally sunk and they had to move the whole town a couple miles towards the coast. Today, you can barely see remnants of old Valdez. The majority of deaths state wide were due to the tsunami. Here's a couple interesting links, the 64 quake and significant quakes by state.

The Great Alaskan Earthquake & Tsunamis of 1964

Historic United States Earthquakes

[DannyL]

I've had a couple wake me up. Kind of a bouncing effect. Here's another link...

Recent Earthquakes

[rotorhead]

We were in the Anchorage area when the Denali quake hit. I was riding in a car at the time and missed it completely, the suspension just soaked it up.

The major effect for us was that our insurance company stopped writing policies in Alaska for several weeks, and we were closing on our house in two days! Mad scramble to re-do the required homeowner insurance for the mortgage company, what a PITA.