1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake

Magnitude 8.1 earthquake in the Canadian Pacific Northwest 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake August 21, 1949 20:01 PDT 1949-08-22 04:01:18 Canada British Columbia 896789 iscgem896789 8.0 w y8.1 s y 10.0 km (6.2 mi)M 8.0 – 171 km S of Hydaburg, Alaska https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/official19490822040118000_10/executive 27 August 2022 United States Geological Survey 53.62 N 133.27 W Strike-slip Canada 0.61 m 1 on w 6.3 Aug 23 at 8:24:35 UTC VIII None The 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake struck Haida Gwaii (at the time known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) and the Pacific Northwest coast at 8:01 p.m. PDT on August 21. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 8.0 and a surface-wave magnitude of 8.1. The maximum Mercalli Intensity in the event was VIII (Severe). The interplate earthquake began in the ocean bottom just off the rugged coast of Graham Island. It ruptured along the Queen Charlotte Fault both northward and southward more than 500 km mi 0 on. Shaking was felt throughout British Columbia, parts of Washington, Oregon, Alberta, the Yukon, and Alaska.The M8.1 Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) Earthquake of August 22, 1949 http://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic-historique/events/19490822-eng.php NRC Natural Resources Canada January 26, 2015 December 10, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20141210154409/http://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic-historique/events/19490822-eng.php dead No deaths were reported in this earthquake. Earthquake The 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake was caused by a rupture on the Queen Charlotte Fault, which forms part of the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates. This fault runs from northern Vancouver Island, west of Haida Gwaii, up to the Gulf of Alaska. The earthquake ruptured the fault for a distance more than 500 km mi 0 on.Nishenko S. P. Jacob K. H. 1990 Seismic potential of the Queen Charlotte-Alaska-Aleutian Seismic Zone https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/JB095iB03p02511 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth en 95 B3 2511–2532 10.1029/JB095iB03p02511 2156-2202 subscription Because this quake occurred before the modern surface wave magnitude scale was developed and widely implemented, this earthquake may have only had the same overall intensity as the 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake. In future there may be some research done to compare the two earthquake events. This earthquake, larger than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, is Canada's largest earthquake recorded by seismometers. However, the greatest known earthquake in Canadian history was the 1700 Cascadia earthquake, a megathrust earthquake that occurred along the Pacific Northwest coast from Northern California to southwestern British Columbia which reached an estimated magnitude 9 on the Richter scale.EnviroZine: Environment Canada's Online Newsmagazine https://web.archive.org/web/20071227103154/https://www.ec.gc.ca/EnviroZine/english/issues/63//any_questions_e.cfm 2007-12-27 Retrieved on 2008-06-03 Damage Although nobody was killed in this earthquake, people and animals were knocked off their feet and there were landslides and other damage. Chimneys tumbled, and an oil tank at Cumshewa Inlet collapsed. In the service community of Terrace, over 300 km mi 5 on away on the mainland, cars were bounced around, and standing on the street was described as "like being on the heaving deck of a ship at sea". In the port city of Prince Rupert, around 200 km mi 5 on from the epicenter, windows were destroyed and buildings swung. See also List of earthquakes in 1949 List of earthquakes in Canada References ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009) http://www.isc.ac.uk/iscgem/index.php ISC 2014 International Seismological Centre Version 1.05 PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200313112456/ftp://hazards.cr.usgs.gov/web/data/pager/catalogs/ dead 2020-03-13 September 4, 2009 United States Geological Survey Version 2008_06.1 External links 896789 Category:1949 in Canada Category:1949 earthquakes 1949 Queen Queen Charlotte Category:1949 in British Columbia Category:1949 disasters in Canada Category:Strike-slip earthquakes Category:Haida Gwaii