A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck the U.S. state of Alaska on November 30, 2018. The epicenter was located approximately 12 km from the city of Anchorage, with a hypocenter depth of about 44 km. This was the strongest earthquake in Alaska in the last 30 years. In 1964, Alaska experienced a magnitude 9.2 earthquake, known as the most powerful earthquake in the world in the 20th century. The territory of Alaska is one of the most seismically active regions globally, situated at the junction of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, which move relative to each other at about 57 mm per year.The recent earthquake caused significant damage to roads around Anchorage, as well as damage to non-structural building elements (e.g., partition walls, glass, bookshelves, etc.). Damage to foundations was also recorded in one- and two-story wooden houses. There were notable oscillations in multi-story buildings equipped with accelerometers, allowing for records of acceleration during the earthquake. An animation of the vibrations of the twenty-five-story Atwood building in Anchorage, which experienced a peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.208g, can be viewed here. Earthquake records for this building and other structures equipped with accelerometers are available ovde (USGS).
Source: EERI
Detailed information:
EERI Learning from Earthquakes Program Anchorage, Alaska Earthquake Clearinghouse
StEER & EERI Alaska Earthquake Preliminary Virtual Assessment Team (P-VAT) Joint Report
