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Major Earthquake near Anchorage, Alaska

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Posted by Train Guy 3 on Thursday, December 13, 2018 5:08 PM

 

BigJim

I saw on the news yesterday the Gov. of Alaska make a statement that Anchorage didn't have to worry about tsunamis. Yet, I also remember a photo that the Freight Agent in Waynesboro, Va. kept under glass at his table from way back in 1964 or so of a street in Anchorage decimated by a tidal wave and what looked like a GP9 laying on its side in the street.

 

Anchorage was never hit by a tsunami in the Good Friday earthquake but the downtown was heavily damaged and the outlining parts of city suffered major landslides. I would say there is a good chance you are thinking of GP7 #1828 that was turned over in Seward. The city Seward suffered much damage in the initial quake, started burning in ensuing fires, and then was hit by a tsunami 25 minutes later. The entire dock system and rail yard at Seward, which wrapped around the shoreline, were all destroyed. To this day the original docks and last three miles of rail line were never rebuilt. Only the original passenger station at the southern end of town remains of the old section of the railroad.

 

And if you’re curious about Alaska Railroad EMD power the ARR never owned a GP9. However they owned several GP7, GP35, GP49, F7A,F7B, E9A, SW1, and MP15s over the years. And today still rosters several GP38-2 and GP40-2s as well their first AC power with SD70MACs.

 

Here's the overturned locomtive.
GP7L

TG3 LOOK ! LISTEN ! LIVE ! Remember the 3.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Monday, December 3, 2018 8:53 PM

The picture in news wire shows major cracks along a  portion of the track.  Since cracks are on both sides of the track wonder if  the cracks joins under the track and how deep it goes ?.  May take some extensive engineering .

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, December 2, 2018 2:38 PM

The Richter  Scale is a logarithmic scale to the base 10. A tremor with a value of 2.0 is 10 times and violet as one with a value of 1.0; a trempr with a value of 3.0 is 10 times as violent as one with a value of 2.0.

10 to the first power is 10; to the second power is 100; to the third power is 1000, and so on.

Johnny

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, December 2, 2018 1:44 PM

The Richter  Scale is a logarithmics scale to the base 10. A tremor with a value of 2.0 is 10 times and violet as one with a value of 1.0; a trempr with a value of 3.0 is 10 times as violent as one with a value of 2.0.

10 to the first power is 10; to the second power is 100; to the third power is 1000, and so on.

Johnny

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Posted by ROBIN LUETHE on Saturday, December 1, 2018 12:42 PM

Actually the scale increases by 30, so a 9.2 is about 1000 times greater than a 7.  Generally a 7+ will not generate a tsunami. (except by a 'landslide' into or under the body of water)

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Posted by selector on Saturday, December 1, 2018 11:22 AM

It's a logarithmic scale, I believe, so it's more like ten times the energy from a reported 7.0 to a measured 8.0.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Saturday, December 1, 2018 11:07 AM

BaltACD

 

 
CSSHEGEWISCH
While this is a major quake, it doesn't seem to be nearly as severe as the 1964 earthquake in almost the same location.

 

Media reports this one was 7.0 on Richter Scale, the 1964 one was 9.2

 

I think that scale is such that each number is twice as strong as the prevuous one, so that a 9.2 is about 4 times stronger than a 7.0

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Saturday, December 1, 2018 11:06 AM

     I lived there in 1964. The epicenter and tidal wave there were in a different area. It took out the town of Valdez. This one was closer to Anchorage and a wider area of sea. In 1964 my dad was a mailman. A portion of his mail route slipped off into the ocean. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, December 1, 2018 8:07 AM

BigJim
I saw on the news yesterday the Gov. of Alaska make a statement that Anchorage didn't have to worry about tsunamis. Yet, I also remember a photo that the Freight Agent in Waynesboro, Va. kept under glass at his table from way back in 1964 or so of a street in Anchorage decimated by a tidal wave and what looked like a GP9 laying on its side in the street.

A tusnami warning was issued and later withdrawn.

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, December 1, 2018 8:05 AM

CSSHEGEWISCH
While this is a major quake, it doesn't seem to be nearly as severe as the 1964 earthquake in almost the same location.

Media reports this one was 7.0 on Richter Scale, the 1964 one was 9.2

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by BigJim on Saturday, December 1, 2018 7:16 AM

I saw on the news yesterday the Gov. of Alaska make a statement that Anchorage didn't have to worry about tsunamis. Yet, I also remember a photo that the Freight Agent in Waynesboro, Va. kept under glass at his table from way back in 1964 or so of a street in Anchorage decimated by a tidal wave and what looked like a GP9 laying on its side in the street.

.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, December 1, 2018 6:47 AM

While this is a major quake, it doesn't seem to be nearly as severe as the 1964 earthquake in almost the same location.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, November 30, 2018 7:57 PM

Major media are not reporting any known fatalities as of the 6 PM EST news.

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Major Earthquake near Anchorage, Alaska
Posted by beaulieu on Friday, November 30, 2018 2:54 PM

A major earthquake has occurred near Anchorage. Serious damage has occurred to highways, and the Alaska RR is shutdown. The Railroad Operations Center has been damaged with broken pipes causing flooding, and grid power is out and the Center is relying on backup generators. It will take a while for the assesment of damage to the railroad itself. Prayers for the citizens of Alaska.

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