Science for Alaska lecture series: Plate to plate – Rupture of the Great Alaska Earthquake

The UAF Geophysical Institute presents the 31st annual Science for Alaska lecture series and events.

The Geophysical Institute will host free public talks at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays about tracking space debris, fostering education using the outdoors, new techniques for understanding aurora, the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, and climate change and its effects on Alaska’s wildlife. The talks will be held live at the Schaible Auditorium, 323 Tanana Loop at UAF. To join virtually, register to watch on Zoom (session closed) or join live from the UAF or Geophysical Institute Facebook pages.

On Tuesday, Feb. 28, Evans Onyango will present “Plate to Plate: Rupture of the Great Alaska Earthquake.”

The 1964 magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake ruptured an area approximately 92,000 square miles from Anchorage to Kodiak Island and caused massive landslides and tsunamis. In 2019, we deployed a dense array of 398 portable seismometers on Kodiak Island within the southern rupture area of the 1964 earthquake to image the boundary between the subducting Pacific Plate and the base of the North American Plate. The research found significant differences between the northern and southern rupture zones.

Join us to learn about the analysis of seismic waves recorded by these small soup can-sized seismometers, how and why the results differ from the northern rupture area of the Great Alaska Earthquake, and implications for rupture dynamics in the region.

For more information visit www.gi.alaska.edu/scienceforalaska or the @UAF.GI Facebook event page, or call 907-474-7787.

Talks are free and for the public. All ages are encouraged to attend.