"earthquake"

Many Juneau residents were relieved to learn Tuesday that offshore tsunamis pose little threat to communities not situated on the coast. But a different type of tsunami, one generated by a nearby earthquake or landslide, for example, could quickly pose a problem.

For nearly two hours, the 48-year-old janitor kept the camera rolling, waiting to see if the tsunami that emergency officials warned about would arrive. The wave never came. By Tuesday evening, Larry had more than 300 new Facebook friends.

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake early Tuesday is what is known as a strike-slip, or when two large blocks move side-to-side instead of up-and-down. That, and it’s distance from shore may explain why tsunami waves were so small.

A spate of earthquakes widely felt in Southcentral Alaska lately has some wondering if that’s a good sign or a bad sign, insofar as larger quakes are concerned. But you can’t make assumptions on future quakes based on what we’re feeling now, according to Natalia Ruppert, a seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center in Fairbanks.…

The girl, 12, has been able to communicate with emergency crews, and she has wriggled her fingers for them through the wreckage at the Enrique Rebsamen School, south of the capital.