Large Quake Shakes Aleutian Islands
1 day ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A large earthquake rattled Alaska's seismically active Aleutian Islands, but there were no immediate reports of any damages or injuries.

The magnitude-7.2 quake struck at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and was centered about 125 miles west of Adak in the island chain, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

A dispatcher with the Anchorage Police Department said he didn't feel the quake, some 1,300 miles away, and there were no reports of any injuries or damages.

The Aleutian Islands are a chain of more than 300 islands that extend southwestward from Alaska into the northern Pacific Ocean.

A separate earthquake of magnitude-4.0 shook the San Bernardino Mountains resort town of Big Bear City early Wednesday about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. There were no reports of any damages or injuries from the quake, which struck shortly before 4:15 a.m., a dispatcher with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.

A tsunami warning was canceled early Wednesday for Alaska's coasts after officials determined waves from the earthquake posed no widespread destructive threat.

The earth's most active seismic feature, the circum-Pacific seismic belt, brushes Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, where more earthquakes occur than in the other 49 States combined.

The Andreanof Island sustained a magnitude 8.8 earthquake in March 1957 that caused very severe damage on Adak and Unimak Islands. A damaging tsunami was generated, and a wall of water 40 feet high smashed the coastline of Scotch Cap on Unimak Island. Sand Bay, near Adak, reported 26-foot waves inundated its shores.

Earthquake Shakes Turkish Capital
2 hours ago

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 shook the capital of Ankara on Thursday, a Turkish seismology center said. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the quake brought down a minaret of a village mosque.

The earthquake, which struck at the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival, lasted for a few minutes, and caused apartment buildings and furniture to sway and chandeliers to fall.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 5.3.

The Istanbul-based Kandilli seismology center said the epicenter of the quake was the town of Bala, some 50 miles south of Ankara. Two aftershocks, the strongest measuring 4.0, followed the temblor. There were two smaller quakes, measuring 3.9 and 4.0, earlier in the day.

The quake demolished an abandoned house in the village of Sirapinar, near Bala, and caused some damage to about a dozen homes and barns, said Muhammed Yildirim, a local official.

Most of the villagers were outdoors sacrificing sheep for the Muslim festival and were not in any danger, Yildirim said.

In the nearby Yeniyapan village, the mosque's minaret tumbled down from the force of the jolt and some homes were also damaged in the village of Avsar, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Gov. Kemal Onal said there were no immediate reports of any casualties in the quake.

"Emergency services have left for Bala to assess possible damage in the villages," Onal said.

Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, much of which lies atop the active North Anatolian fault, though they are rare in the capital.

Two devastating earthquakes killed about 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey in 1999. In 2003, a school dormitory collapsed following a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Bingol, in southeast Turkey, killing 83 children.