Categorized | Earthquake, News

Strong 6.3M quake near Alaska, no tsunami threat

Magnitude
6.3

Time
2016-03-12 18:06:46 (UTC)
2016-03-12 08:06:46 HST

Nearby Cities
65km (40mi) SSE of Atka, Alaska
1542km (958mi) SSE of Anadyr’, Russia
1814km (1127mi) WSW of Anchorage, Alaska
1842km (1145mi) WSW of Knik-Fairview, Alaska
2574km (1599mi) W of Whitehorse, Canada

TSUNAMI SEISMIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NWS NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
911 AM AKST SAT MAR 12 2016

...THIS IS A TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT...


EVALUATION
----------
 * AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED - A TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED.


PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
---------------------------------
 * THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS ARE BASED ON A RAPID PRELIMINARY
   ASSESSMENT AND CHANGES MAY OCCUR.

 * MAGNITUDE      6.4
 * ORIGIN TIME    0907 AKST MAR 12 2016
                  1007  PST MAR 12 2016
                  1807  UTC MAR 12 2016
 * COORDINATES    51.5 NORTH 174.0 WEST
 * DEPTH          20 MILES
 * LOCATION       50 MILES S OF ATKA VILLAGE ALASKA
                  120 MILES SE OF ADAK ALASKA


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND NEXT UPDATE
--------------------------------------
 * THE EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS ARE BASED ON PRELIMINARY INFORMATION.

 * FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES
   GEOLOGICAL SURVEY - EARTHQUAKE.USGS.GOV - OR THE APPROPRIATE
   REGIONAL SEISMIC NETWORK.

 * THIS WILL BE THE ONLY U.S. NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER
   MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT.

USGS: How large does an earthquake have to be to cause a tsunami?

Magnitudes below 6.5
Earthquakes of this magnitude are very unlikely to trigger a tsunami.

Magnitudes between 6.5 and 7.5
Earthquakes of this size do not usually produce destructive tsunamis. However, small sea level changes may be observed in the vicinity of the epicenter. Tsunamis capable of producing damage or casualties are rare in this magnitude range but have occurred due to secondary effects such as landslides or submarine slumps.

Magnitudes between 7.6 and 7.8
Earthquakes of this size may produce destructive tsunamis especially near the epicenter; at greater distances small sea level changes may be observed. Tsunamis capable of producing damage at great distances are rare in the magnitude range.

Magnitude 7.9 and greater
Destructive local tsunamis are possible near the epicenter, and significant sea level changes and damage may occur in a broader region.

Note that with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the probability of an aftershock with a magnitude exceeding 7.5 is not negligible. To date, the largest aftershock recorded has been magnitude 7.1 that did not produce a damaging tsunami.

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