Earthquake hits off Alaska: where did it strike and how strong is it?
The United States Geological Survey has reported a quake with a magnitude of over five close to the Aleutian Islands.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has reported an earthquake off the Aleutian Islands, measuring just over five on the Richter scale.
When did the quake hit and what magnitude is it?
Per the USGS, the quake hit at just after 1:02 a.m. local time, 122 kilometers (76 miles) south-southwest of the island of Nikolski.
The USGS says the earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 5.2 and had a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles).
As things stand, the U.S.’s National Tsunami Warning Center is not showing an active tsunami alert.
Seismically active area
A group of islands that extend out from the southwestern tip of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands are located in a seismically active region known as the Aleutian arc, where tectonic plates meet.
It is a region where there are “thousands of earthquakes occurring each year”, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.
The body adds: “Since 1900, this region has hosted several major megathrust earthquakes, including the 1957 M8.6 in the Andreanof Islands, the 1965 M8.7 in the Rat Islands, the 1986 M7.9 and the 1996 M7.9 in the Andreanof Islands, and the 2003 M7.8 in the Rat Islands.”
The Andreanof and Rat Islands are two of five major groups of Aleutian Islands that belong to the U.S. state of Alaska. The other three are the Fox Islands - which include Nikolski - the Islands of the Four Mountains, and the Near Islands.
A sixth group of Aleutian Islands - the Commander Islands, located off the eastern coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula - are under Russian jurisidiction.
Follows huge Kamchatka quake
Today’s event off Nikolski comes a month and a half after a huge, 8.8-magnitude earthquake some 120 kilometers (79 miles) off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The quake, which occurred on July 30, initially left the Aleutian Islands, mainland Alaska and several other U.S. states on tsunami alert.
However, the massive quake did not finally cause the catastrophic damage that was initially feared.
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