A strong Ms 6.5 earthquake hit the region near Kodiak, Alaska this
morning. No other earthquakes of this size with Ml>=6.5 have
been recorded within 100 km of this epicenter although the seismicity within
200 km is much stronger. In the 200 km radius, there have been recent strong
events on Dec. 6, 1999 (Ms 7.0), Dec 7, 1999 (Ms 6.5) and July 11, 2000
(Ms 6.8). The region is in an active state at this time and an
earthquake of Ms>7 is considered likely during the next two years.
There were two events of Ml>=6.4 from 1971 through 1997 ( a quiet
period). Since July, 1998 there have been 5 such earthquakes within
200 km of today's epicenter. A similar period of quiescence followed
by regional activation occurred with a quiet period between 19 1944
and 1962 when only one event of Ms>=6.4 was recorded. This was followed
by a series of 5 such events in the period 1963-1965 including the great
MW 9.7 earthquake in southern Alaska on March 28, 1964. This was followed
by the quiet period identified between 1971 and 1997.
The earthquake is initially focused at a hypocenter about 130 km
deep in a sparsely populated area so damage and injuries are
considered unlikely at this time. The earthquake was felt at
Yakutat, Palmer and Sutton, Alaska. The Alaska Tsunami warning
Center tsunami bulletin indicates a tsunami is unlikely except
as a landslide tsunami in local areas. See:
http://wcatwc.gov/message.txt

For more information on this quake see:

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/alaskaquake010728.html

• Web news on Alaska earthquake