Alaska Earthquake Center at UAF tracks Iniskin quake

January 27, 2016

Jeff Richardson

At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, a major earthquake of magnitude 7.1 occurred in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska. The earthquake was felt widely across Alaska, with shaking strong enough to wake Fairbanks residents. Within minutes, the Alaska Earthquake Center, part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, received reports of power failure and damage.

The Iniskin Earthquake, as it is now called, occurred at a depth of 76 miles. The earthquake's depth caused the ground to shake across a large swath of the state. A shallower hypocenter would have resulted in more intense shaking at the surface directly above the earthquake. Evolving information about the Iniskin Earthquake and aftershocks can be found on the earthquake center’s website, earthquake.alaska.edu.

The Alaska Earthquake Center urges Alaska residents to familiarize themselves with earthquake preparedness and safety procedures. Such information can be found on its website at http://earthquake.alaska.edu/preparedness/home.

Motion sensors throughout Anchorage were able to record the differences in earthquake intensity across the city. The network of seismic stations was a project advocated by former UAF Professor Nirendra Biswas, who passed away last year. More information about the network can be found in an Alaska Dispatch News story at www.adn.com/article/20160125/quake-surprises-researchers-extreme-differences-across-anchorage.