> Fairly strong M4.9 this morning at 1421 UTC. This one was at the
> southern edge of the aftershock zone, fairly close to Anchorage.
They're ALL close to Anchorage!
This one worked as a fine alarm clock. Everything rattled and shook.
Good rumble with it that started a couple seconds before the shaking.
But what was kinda odd about this one is that there was a gentle
shaking that went on for another 15-20 seconds after the quake.
Usually the shaking is just you, but in this case, it was actually the
ground still moving.
A 4.9 doesn't do any damage and at most you'll have a few things slide
back and forth on the counter-top. But it is still unnerving.
Especially the sound.
The temporary road repairs are somewhat holding. It'll be a long way
to this summer when they can repair things correctly. One bridge that
I cross every day has had the ground settle a foot or two on the
south-end departure. The bridge is fine, but you kinda launch coming
off of it. Of course, it's on a curve and always icy.
Looking back at the earthquake, it's kinda deceiving. A 7.0 is a
strong earthquake no matter where it's at. We were VERY fortunate that
it didn't last very long. Another 30 seconds and I think we'd be
looking at a serious number of casualties--probably many in the
building I was in. The duration was just at the threshold of soil
liquifaction, so we really lucked out there. Nearly all road failures
were caused by slumping. But the structures all held up with
essentially no impressive failures to make world news headlines. This
is a seismic "Zone 4" (old rating system) area so all construction has
to conform to the highest seismic requirements. The problem is that
the human body still experienced a 7.0 earthquake regardless of how
the buildings fared. We don't have the highly visible scars that make
headline news and infrastructure was nearly unscathed. But the human
mind is still traumatized.
Yet, this is Alaska. The general attitude here is that "everything can
kill you" here. If the earthquakes don't get you, the weather, bears,
moose, wolves, and criminals will. So, live every day to the fullest.
AG
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