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The U.S. Geological Survey estimates a low probability of fatalities
from the earthquake. Estimated economic losses are most likely between
$100 million and $1 billion, which is an “orange alert,” according to
the survey’s algorithms. “Past events with this alert level have
required a regional or national level response,” the center said on its
website.
Friday’s quake occurred on a fault
line between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, the USGS
said. The rupture between the faults occurred in an area where the
Pacific plate is moving underneath Alaska. Anchorage was severely
damaged in March 1964 by the Great Alaska Earthquake,
a 9.2-magnitude quake with its epicenter about 75 miles east of the
city. That quake, which lasted for about four-and-a-half minutes, was
the most powerful earthquake recorded in U.S. history. It destroyed a
major part of downtown Anchorage and caused a tsunami that ravaged towns
on the Gulf of Alaska and beyond.
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