# Powerful quake off Alaska prompts tsunami fear for N. American west coast **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290 "2018-01-23T12:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/1 "2018-01-23T12:26:07Z")
[Powerful quake off Alaska prompts tsunami fear for N. American west coast](https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAv3sRF?m=en-us) > [@](#): > > ANCHORAGE, Jan 23 - A magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit the Gulf of Alaska in the early hours of Tuesday, prompting warnings of a possible tsunami down the west coast of North America. > … Any Dopers in the affected areas? Many are still asleep at this hour, I guess. I confess that my knowledge of geography (thank og for google maps) and geology is sketchy, but how might this instability/activity deep in the earth play into the [Rattlesnake Ridge](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/can-experts-predict-collapse-at-washingtons-rattlesnake-ridge/) crack at Yakima, Washington. A glance at the map shows me that Rattlesnake Ridge is pretty far from the coastline. Anyone know or care to speculate? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/2 "2018-01-23T15:38:37Z")
Tsunami warning cancelled: [http://www.tsunami.gov/events/PAAQ/2018/01/23/p3054t/7/WEAK51/WEAK51.txt](http://www.tsunami.gov/events/PAAQ/2018/01/23/p3054t/7/WEAK51/WEAK51.txt) looks like imapcts were minmal: > [@](#): > > ## OBSERVATIONS OF TSUNAMI ACTIVITY - UPDATED > > - Observed max tsunami height is the highest recorded water level > above the tide level up to the time of this message. > > SITE OF MEASUREMENT TSUNAMI HEIGHT > > * * * > > Kodiak Alaska 0329 PST Jan 23 0.6ft > Seward Alaska 0331 PST Jan 23 0.4ft > Old Harbor Alaska 0338 PST Jan 23 0.7ft > Sitka Alaska 0318 PST Jan 23 0.4ft > Yakutat Alaska 0335 PST Jan 23 0.5ft > Langara BC 0330 PST Jan 23 0.4ft Brian ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/3 "2018-01-23T16:51:57Z")
I live outside the evacuation zone but many of my friends woke up in the night to the sirens and had to grab their kids out of their beds and jump into the car and get out of the area. Very scary. Most of them live in Port Alberni where this happened in 1964. Apparently the sirens were incredibly loud. > **[Vancouver Sun](https://vancouversun.com/)** > > Read latest breaking news, updates, and headlines. Vancouver Sun offers information on latest national and international events & more. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/4 "2018-01-23T17:18:50Z")
The [1964 Alaska earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake) was a biggie. I was only a teenager at the time and lived in Texas, but I remember quite vividly hearing about it. And that was back before 24/7, on the spot, youtube/cell phone news coverage. It happened on Good Friday (make of that what you will). About 20 years ago my late husband and I visited Alaska and we saw the place where the ground just dropped. For those too young to remember, it’s worth reading about. If you want to scare the ever-loving pee out of yourself. ---
**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:** [January 23, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/5 "2018-01-23T18:19:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The [1964 Alaska earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake) was a biggie. I was only a teenager at the time and lived in Texas, but I remember quite vividly hearing about it. And that was back before 24/7, on the spot, youtube/cell phone news coverage. It happened on Good Friday (make of that what you will). About 20 years ago my late husband and I visited Alaska and we saw the place where the ground just dropped. For those too young to remember, it’s worth reading about. If you want to scare the ever-loving pee out of yourself. I was there, a junior in high school in Anchorage. The tsunami wreaked considerable havoc in Prince William Sound and the northern California coast. But this wasn’t that type of earthquake, where the crust breaks. It was apparently on a strike-slip fault, where the walls move sideways rather than up and down. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/6 "2018-01-23T18:38:09Z")
Is there any connection between this earthquake and the 2 volcanos that erupted yesterday–one in Japan, the other in the Phillipines. Sorry geologists if this is a foolish question… ---
**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:** [January 23, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/7 "2018-01-23T22:58:18Z")
There is no known causation between earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, although the latter are usually preceded by earthquake-like swarms. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/8 "2018-01-23T23:59:00Z")
In 1975, while I was stationed at the Presidio of Monterey in California. I had a friend who was ten when the 1964 Alaska quake happened. She said her family got outside and clung to the ground, on their hands and knees, and she could see the ground rippling as if it were waves on a pond. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/9 "2018-01-24T02:18:16Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > In 1975, while I was stationed at the Presidio of Monterey in California. I had a friend who was ten when the 1964 Alaska quake happened. She said her family got outside and clung to the ground, on their hands and knees, and she could see the ground rippling as if it were waves on a pond. Pretty much. Also, all the parked cars lurching back and forth with their tires screeching and the young birch trees slapping their tops on the ground. Pretty wild. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/10 "2018-01-24T03:25:11Z")
Here’s a good [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJb98Xep3IY)of 1964 with narration. Deeply disturbing. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/11 "2018-01-24T04:15:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Here’s a good [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJb98Xep3IY)of 1964 with narration. Deeply disturbing. Most of those scenes are of a residential area called Turnagain by the Sea, or just ‘Turnagain’ to locals. The whole area was built on quick-clay, which turns liquid during prolonged vibration, and when that happened a lot of homes slid down the bluff. Other scenes in the video are of the downtown area on 4th and 5th avenues. On 4th avenue, most of the businesses on the west side of the street sank when the earth subsided under them. On 5th avenue, the large building with it’s sides sheared off was the J.C. Penny building. There was one scene in the video of a tennis court broken into pieces. That was a few blocks from my house. The flooded scenes are likely of Valdez, which, along with the village of Chenega, took direct hits from the tsunami and suffered the most loss of life. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-quake-off-alaska-prompts-tsunami-fear-for-n-american-west-coast/807290/12 "2018-01-24T15:20:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Here’s a good [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJb98Xep3IY)of 1964 with narration. Deeply disturbing. thanks for sharing that. imagine a 9.2 hitting LA. ☹