The 1965 Alaska Earthquake

The 1965 Alaska Earthquake

Commonly known as the Rat
Islands Earthquake.

Occurred at 05:01 UTC on
February 4, 1965

Magnitude of 8.7

Epicenter at 51.29N
178.55E

Triggered Tsunami

DAMAGE
Flooding from the tsunami
caused $10,000 worth of
damage on Amchitka
Island.

Minor damage from the
earthquake was recorded
on both Attu and Shemya
islands in the form of cracks
in runways.
TECTONIC SETTING
Part of the Aleutian
Islands, a chain of volcanic
islands forming an island
arc, that results from
the subduction of
the Pacific Plate beneath
the North American Plate.

This plate boundary,
the Alaska-Aleutian
megathrust, has been the
location of many megathrust
earthquakes.
CHARACTERISTICS
Earthquake
Associated with a 600 km long rupture
along the plate boundary, based on
the distribution of aftershocks.

The main shock was followed by an
earthquake of magnitude 7.6 nearly
two months later, that triggered a
small tsunami. This was not an
aftershock, but a normal fault event
within the outer rise of the subducting
plate, triggered by the earlier event.

Tsunami
Maximum run-up height of 10.7 m on
Shemya Island, 2.0 m at Amchitka
Island, 1.6 m at Attu Island and 1.1 m
in northern Kauai, Hawaii.