Mixed Feelings

Last night, as you probably know, there was an 7.9 earthquake off the Central Gulf Coast less than 200 miles SE of Kodiak. They would have about 90 minutes to get to sea if there was a tsunami generated, not enough. Fortunately, the quake only involved horizontal rather than vertical movement. So no tsunami.

Seward evacuated. They sit at the top of a long, funnel shaped bay that pointed right at the epicenter and there was nothing in between. So they left, remembering 1964.

Homer was better situated but would still have to take the warning seriously. The warning advises us to take to sea ( at least 150 feet depth ) if able. I was not in Homer at the time but I’ll bet I’ll get to hear of many scrambles to get to deep water.

I was sound asleep in a hotel room on the 10th floor of the Inlet Towers in Anchorage. Bill Worsfold and I were in town so he could get three days of medical treatments. I awoke to what I at first thought was the wind; but when Bill finally woke up announcing that it was an earthquake, I quickly agreed. The people on the street probably didn’t feel it that much but it was more than noticeable on the tenth floor.

We both just sat there trying to go back to sleep when the phones started the many alerts. So much for a good night’s sleep.

Anyway, it appears that all is OK and life will be back to normal soon. At least what passes for normal in the coastal and island communities in Alaska, BC and the Pacific Northwest coast. We have to be able to react faster than our southern neighbors so a few false alarms are unavoidable. Given the frequency of potential tsunami events, we’ll get to practice fairly often. You get used to it.

Hope all is well with you also.