The 7.9 magnitude Alaska earthquake has been followed by 78 large aftershocks in a surge of seismic activity along the Ring of Fire. According to United States Geological Survey (USGS) data, more than 70 smaller tremors have rocked the Gulf of Alaska in the hours since yesterday’s quake, which was the joint seventh-largest earthquake ever recorded in the region.
The first major aftershocks came just 15 minutes after the 7.9-quake struck at 12.31am local time (9.31am GMT) on Tuesday, with the largest measuring 5.6 on the moment magnitude scale. Most of the tremors that followed were recorded in the same localized area but are unlikely to have been felt by humans because of the area’s distance to any populated areas. The vast majority of the tremors that followed measured between 2.5 and 4.5 on the Richter scale. READ MORE
