# Earthquake in Alaska **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493 "2014-06-23T23:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/1 "2014-06-23T23:13:48Z")
I’ve heard the news about a massive earthquake in Alaska. [http://local.msn.com/tsunami-warning-for-aleutians-after-80-quake](http://local.msn.com/tsunami-warning-for-aleutians-after-80-quake) Any Alaska Dopers keeping an eye on this? There’s said to be tsunami warnings and evacuations to higher ground going on. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/2 "2014-06-23T23:35:33Z")
May make the local new but have nothing yet. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/3 "2014-06-24T00:00:11Z")
Wow - that’s way out there in the Aleutian Islands. While we have a bunch of Dopers from Alaska, I’m not sure if we have any from the Aleutians. Total population of all 300 islands is about 8,000 people. I would eagerly welcome good news that they’re alright from a previously unknown Doper though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/4 "2014-06-24T00:14:36Z")
Adak used to be a large military facility. When the Navy shut it down, it was given to the Aleuts, who moved into the housing and other buildings there. The population majority now is comprised of non-natives. I remember evacuating to Bering Hill when I was stationed there, just like the locals are now doing. There is a still-active AF base further out on Shemya Island. I’m pretty sure that any tsunami danger will likely be limited to the island chain. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/5 "2014-06-24T00:25:03Z")
Here’s the initial data: Region: RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA Geographic coordinates: 51.797N, 178.759E Magnitude: 8.0 Depth: 114 km Universal Time (UTC): 23 Jun 2014 20:53:10 Time near the Epicenter: 23 Jun 2014 11:53:11 Local standard time in your area: 23 Jun 2014 14:53:10 Location with respect to nearby cities: 24 km (14 mi) SE of Little Sitkin Island, Alaska 1370 km (849 mi) E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia 1387 km (859 mi) E of Vilyuchinsk, Russia 1388 km (860 mi) E of Yelizovo, Russia 2957 km (1833 mi) W of Whitehorse, Canada As others mentioned, location is the tail end of the Aleutians, so biggest hazard is tsunami. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/6 "2014-06-24T01:58:47Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Here’s the initial data: > > Region: RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA > Geographic coordinates: 51.797N, 178.759E > Magnitude: 8.0 > Depth: 114 km > Universal Time (UTC): 23 Jun 2014 20:53:10 > Time near the Epicenter: 23 Jun 2014 11:53:11 > Local standard time in your area: 23 Jun 2014 14:53:10 > > Location with respect to nearby cities: > 24 km (14 mi) SE of Little Sitkin Island, Alaska > 1370 km (849 mi) E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia > 1387 km (859 mi) E of Vilyuchinsk, Russia > 1388 km (860 mi) E of Yelizovo, Russia > 2957 km (1833 mi) W of Whitehorse, Canada > > As others mentioned, location is the tail end of the Aleutians, so biggest hazard is tsunami. Not only is Little Sitkin Island not a city, I’m fairly certain that the place is uninhabited. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/7 "2014-06-24T02:09:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not only is Little Sitkin Island not a city, I’m fairly certain that the place is uninhabited. [http://fox6now.com/2014/06/23/tsunami-warning-8-0-earthquake-15-miles-from-little-sitkin-island-in-alaska/](http://fox6now.com/2014/06/23/tsunami-warning-8-0-earthquake-15-miles-from-little-sitkin-island-in-alaska/) I think there is a small town there. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/8 "2014-06-24T03:19:45Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > [http://fox6now.com/2014/06/23/tsunami-warning-8-0-earthquake-15-miles-from-little-sitkin-island-in-alaska/](http://fox6now.com/2014/06/23/tsunami-warning-8-0-earthquake-15-miles-from-little-sitkin-island-in-alaska/) > I think there is a small town there. That link doesn’t mention a population on Little Sitkin - it mentions the 150 residents in Adak, which is on Adak Island, not Little Sitkin. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/9 "2014-06-24T03:21:45Z")
Weird - [Little Sitkin’s wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Sitkin_Island) says citizens were ordered to evacuate, but doesn’t mention any population on the island. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/10 "2014-06-24T03:24:35Z")
How exactly would people be warned it that area? It seems too sparsely populated to have its own radio stations, much less TV. Or is there a tsunami warning system already in place in the Aleutians? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-alaska/691493/11 "2014-06-24T13:55:08Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > Weird - [Little Sitkin’s wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Sitkin_Island) says citizens were ordered to evacuate, but doesn’t mention any population on the island. I think it’s a mistake, and they were referring to people on Adak. Little Sitkin and Greater Sitkin are volcanoes, and so remote that people would be hard-pressed to survive there. Adak at least has two runways from the military days (I used to maintain the lighting for it). The US government used to do nuclear tests out at Sitkin back in the 60s/70s. Every time they set one off, we had to evacuate to high points on Adak in the event of a tsunami (never happened).