January 28, 2020 — This morning, residents in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region reported waking to a magnitude 3.6 earthquake near the proposed Pebble Mine site just before 6 a.m.
Earthquakes in Alaska are nothing new. But the rate of activity has increased. According to the Alaska Earthquake Center, 2018 and 2019 took first and second place for the most earthquakes recorded in the state: “With a total of 50,289 reported earthquakes, 2019 finished as a runner up to the record-breaking 2018. The earthquake depths ranged between zero and 165 miles.”
What does this have to do with mining and fisheries? Stay with me.
As we cannot yet predict seismic activity, we do the next best thing: Build to withstand earthquakes.
The 7.1 quake that hit Anchorage in November 2018, followed by a 5.7 aftershock and hundreds of aftershocks for days and weeks after, caused no fatalities. Why? Because we have engineered our lives and structures to survive earthquakes, especially in the Ring of Fire.