The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck just 58 miles east/southeast of Adak, Alaska on Aug. 30, 2013 was a whopper, but not unusual for the region. The earthquake occurred at 8:25 a.m. that morning at the interface of the Pacific and North American plates, a region called the Aleutian Arc.

 The Aleutian Arc is home to more than 20 earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or larger within the last century. 



News of the Aug. 30 earthquake spread quickly around the globe. News outlets from China, Greece, Japan, Canada and the U.S. ran stories covering the earthquake, its magnitude and the fact that there were no injuries and little damage.

For more details on this earthquake or Alaska seismicity in general, visit http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/ or http://earthquake.usgs.gov/.



AEIC map.