1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake

Severe earthquake and tsunami in southwestern Alaska, USA 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake.jpg USGS ShakeMap Alaska 1957-03-09 14:22:33 886030 iscgem886030 1957 03 09 04:22:33 8.6 w y8.1–8.3 s yBrockman Espinosa Michael 1988Kanamori 19779.0 t yAbe 1979Other estimates include b 7.7,Brockman Espinosa Michael 1988 s20 8.2,Sykes 1971 and . 8.3.Brockman Espinosa Michael 1988 25 km on 51.5 -175.63 region:US-AK_type:event inline,title Aleutian Trench Megathrust Aleutian Islands & Hawaii $5 millionStover Coffman 1993 8Stover Coffman 1993 23 m on 2 dead (indirect) The 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake occurred at 04:22 local time on March 9 with a moment magnitude estimated at 8.6 and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). It occurred south of the Andreanof Islands group, which is part of the Aleutian Islands arc. The event occurred along the Aleutian Trench, the convergent plate boundary that separates the Pacific plate and the North American plates near Alaska. A basin-wide tsunami followed, with effects felt in Alaska and Hawaii, and strong waves recorded across the Pacific rim. Total losses were around $5 million (US 5000000 1957 eq). Tectonic setting thumb|260 px|Map showing the tectonics and seismicity of Alaska The Aleutian Islands lie between Kamchatka and mainland Alaska. They were formed as the result of the 4000 km on long convergent boundary that accommodates the subduction of the oceanic Pacific plate underneath the continental North American plate. This oceanic trench runs from the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench in the west to the Yakutat Collision Zone in the east. Most of the trench ruptured in a sequence of earthquakes from east to west.Sykes 1971 Earthquakes in 1938, 1946, 1948, and 1965 generally progressed westward with smaller earthquakes filling in any gaps.Sykes 1971 At each terminus of the subduction zone, convergence ends in favor of right-lateral transform faults.Yeats 2012 In the west, convergence becomes increasingly oblique until the Commander Islands where faulting is nearly completely strike-slip—a 2017 earthquake was associated with this tectonic setting.Lay Ye Bai Cheung 2017 The plate boundary ends at the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench.Yeats 2012 In the east, the Pacific plate continues to subduct underneath the North American plate until the Yakutat microplate.Doser 2012 There, a transition from subduction to strike-slip faulting exists.Doser 2012 When this transition ends, faulting is completely right-lateral transform and is largely accommodated along the Queen Charlotte Fault.Doser 2012 Earthquake The seismic intensity peaked at VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale at Adak and Umnak.Brockman Espinosa Michael 1988 As the shock occurred before the World Wide Standardised Seismological Network was in operation, few instruments recorded the event, and its mechanism is not understood well as a result. Some effort was made with the limited data to gain an understanding of the rupture area and the distribution of slip. One aspect of the event that was certain was that the 1200-1230 km on aftershock zone was one of the largest that had ever been observed,Johnson Tanioka Ruff Satake 1994Tape Lomax 2022 comparable to the approximate lower rupture length limit of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The aftershock zone may slightly overlap other ruptures, however there is minimal overlap between the aftershocks of the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake to the east and the 1965 Rat Islands earthquake to the west.Tape Lomax 2022 StudiesJanuary 2023 of the event differ on rupture characteristics. Some suggest a rupture zone greater than 600 km on, stretching from Amchitka Pass in the east to Unimak Pass in the west.Lander Lockridge 1989 Other studiesJanuary 2023 have the rupture area at a significantly longer 850 km on.Johnson Tanioka Ruff Satake 1994 Yet other studiesJanuary 2023 conclude that the entirety of the aftershock area ruptured in the earthquake, for a total rupture length of 1200 km on.Hwang Kanamori 1986 The western portion of the rupture stopped at Bowers Ridge.Davies Sykes House Jacob 1981 Studies also disagree on whether the easternmost area near Unalaska ruptured. Some of the early scientific papersJanuary 2023 conclude that this area remained unruptured during the event and remains a seismic gap.Johnson Tanioka Ruff Satake 1994 Others, especially ones written decades after the fact, conclude that slip did occur here,Witter Briggs Engelhart Gelfenbaum 2019 but signals from it were blocked by the coda of the main slip.Johnson Tanioka Ruff Satake 1994 However, the amount of slip is not agreed upon. Some studies support a low amount of slip,Boyd Jacob 1986 while others conclude that there was large amounts of slip in this area,Witter Carver Briggs Gelfenbaum 2016 up to 20 m on.Nicolsky Freymueller Witter Suleimani 2016 A maximum slip of 20 m on was estimated in the eastern portion of the rupture.Nicolsky Freymueller Witter Suleimani 2016 If the eastern portion of the megathrust did rupture, then a magnitude of w 9.0–9.1 is more reflective of the event.Witter Briggs Engelhart Gelfenbaum 2019 The tsunami created by the earthquake suggests a (t 9.0 y) event.Abe 1979 The earthquake was previously assigned magnitude 9.1 and subsequent analysis have revised it to magnitude 8.6.iscgem886030 1957 M 8.6 – 81 km ESE of Adak, Alaska https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/official19570309142233_30/region-info Tsunami + Teletsunami observationsLander Lockridge 1989 Location Recorded height (m) Hāʻena, Kauai County, Hawaii, Hawaii 16.1 Wainiha, Hawaii, Hawaii 11.6 Pololu Valley, Hawaii 9.8 Oahu, Hawaii 7.0 Fagasā, American Samoa 1.5 Crescent City, California 0.7 San Diego, California 0.2 Tsunami waves were reported in faraway places such as in Chile.Salsman 1959 The tsunami's strength led to suspicion that a landslide may have contributed to its severity, but there was no clear evidence of one.Witter Carver Briggs Gelfenbaum 2016 A submarine landslide is considered inconsistent with the wave patterns recorded, and the high wave heights could be explained by large amounts of near-trench slip.Witter Carver Briggs Gelfenbaum 2016 However, a newer study using Alvin has apparently found evidence for a landslide.Submarine Landslide May Have Contributed to This Devastating 1957 Tsunami https://www.discovermagazine.com/submarine-landslide-may-have-contributed-to-this-devastating-1957-tsunami-47903 "According to the findings, the landslide extends for approximately 10 miles and exhibits signs of slope failure, including a chaotic debris zone, a scalloped headwall, and runout lobes that descend towards a deeper basin." Alaska Wave heights were the highest in Alaska. On Unimak Island, waves reached as high as 23 m on. Also on Unimak, near the Scotch Cap Lighthouse that was destroyed in the 1946 earthquake, run up heights of 12-15 m on were observed.Lander Lockridge 1989 Trappers Cove recorded wave heights of 13.7 m on.Lander 1996 At Sand Bay, the tsunami reached 8 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Dutch Harbor in Unalaska recorded waves of 0.7 m on, Massacre Bay in Attu recorded waves up to 0.6 m on high and Sitka had waves reaching 0.4 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 At Yakutat run-ups measured 0.3 m on, while Womens Bay, Kodiak, Seward, and Juneau had recorded tsunami heights of 0.2 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Hawaii On the island of Kauai, the wave height reached 16.1 m at Haena.Lander Lockridge 1989 In northern Oahu, wave heights reached 7 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Various areas around Big Island recorded tsunami waves with heights ranging 1–9.8 m on,Lander Lockridge 1989 including a reading of 3.9 m on at Hilo. In Kahului, Maui, tide gauges recorded waves up to 1.8 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Coconut Island was submerged by 1 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 California Crescent City recorded a tsunami wave of 0.7 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Los Angeles recorded run-ups of 0.5 m on, Santa Monica experienced a 0.5 m on-high tsunami, while Anaheim Bay had 0.4 m on waves.Lander Lockridge 1989 San Francisco's tide gauge recorded run-ups of 0.3 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 In San Diego, a 1 m on wave caused minor damage, however the tide gauge only recorded a wave 0.2 m on high.Lander Lockridge 1989 Other tide gauges across the state recorded run-up heights of 0.1-0.5 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Elsewhere At Fagasā, American Samoa, tsunami run-up heights reached 1.5 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Pago Pago recorded wave heights of 0.3 m on, however the amplitude of the wave was 1.2 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Midway recorded tsunami waves up to 0.5 m on high.Lander Lockridge 1989 Wake Island recorded amplitudes of 0.4 m on, Kwajalein and Enewetak recorded heights of 0.3 m on.Lander Lockridge 1989 Johnston Atoll experienced waves of 0.1 m on, while waves less than 0.1 m on were recorded at Guam and Chuuk Lagoon.Lander Lockridge 1989 In Mexico, the tidal gauge in Ensenada, Baja California recorded the strongest waves at 3.4 ft flip on.Salsman 1959 Many countries in Central America also recorded tsunami run-ups including 0.8 ft flip on at Puntarenas, Costa Rica, 0.6 ft flip on at Puerto San José, Guatemala, and 0.2 ft flip on waves at La Unión, El Salvador.Salsman 1959 Peru and Chile were favorably oriented for large waves from the tsunami, and as a result strong waves were recorded. In Peru, the strongest wave heights of 4.2 ft flip on were recorded at Matarani, with other coastal areas recording wave heights of 0.9-2.6 ft flip on.Salsman 1959 Valparaíso, Chile recorded wave heights of 6.7 ft flip on, which were the highest across the country.Salsman 1959 Across the rest of the country, wave heights of 3.0 ft flip on, 3.0 ft flip on, 4.2 ft flip on, and 4.6 ft flip on were recorded at Arica, Antofagasta, Caldera, and Talcahuano, respectively.Salsman 1959 Damage Prompt warnings from the Seismic Sea Wave Warning System were credited with preventing major damage or loss of life.Lander Lockridge 1989 The earthquake caused severe damage to roads and buildings on Adak including a crack 4.5 m on in size,Stover Coffman 1993 however there were no deaths.Lander Lockridge 1989 Two bridges and some oil and fuel-related structures at a dock were also destroyed there.Lander Lockridge 1989 On Umnak, a concrete mixer and some docks were lost.Lander Lockridge 1989 At Chernofski, Trappers Cove, and Vsevidof, strong waves drowned sheep.Lander 1996 Oil pipelines were damaged at Sand Bay.Lander 1996 Many boats were damaged by strong waves.Lander 1996 The tsunami caused twice the damage that the tsunami of the 1946 earthquake did.Lander Lockridge 1989 In Hawaii, damage was much more extensive, including two indirect fatalities that occurred when a pilot and photographer were killed while attempting to document the tsunami's arrival from an airplane. About 50 homes were flooded on the north shore of Oahu and significant effects were seen in Waialua Bay. Buildings and bridges were also flooded in Haleiwa.Lander Lockridge 1989 In Hilo, the tsunami damaged buildings. The total damage cost was over $5 million ($46 million in 2017). See also List of earthquakes in 1957 List of earthquakes in Alaska List of earthquakes in the United States Mount Vsevidof Notes References http://oceana.org/es/explore/marine-places/aleutian-trench Aleutian Trench August 7, 2022 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140225094151/http://oceana.org/es/explore/marine-places/aleutian-trench February 25, 2014 OB 886030 Tsunami Historical Series: Aleutian Islands – 1957 Dataset Science on a Sphere https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/tsunami-historical-series-aleutian-islands-1957/ sos.noaa.gov 28 March 2017 24 January 2020 The 9 March 1957 Aleutian Tsunami http://itic.ioc-unesco.org/images/stories/list_of_tsunamis/1957/1957.pdf Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 30 December 2022 1957 Aleutian Tsunami https://earthweb.ess.washington.edu/tsunami/general/historic/aleutian57.html Earthweb University of Washington 29 December 2022 Sources 30em Abe Katsuyuki Size of great earthquakes of 1837–1974 inferred from tsunami data Journal of Geophysical Research 1979 84 B4 1561–1568 10.1029/JB084iB04p01561 1979JGR....84.1561A https://doi.org/10.1029/JB084iB04p01561. 31 December 2022 subscription Boyd Thomas M. Jacob Klaus Seismicity of the Unalaska region, Alaska Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 1 April 1986 76 2 463–481 10.1785/BSSA0760020463 11 July 2025 https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/76/2/463/118802/Seismicity-of-the-Unalaska-region-Alaska 31 December 2022 Brockman Stanley R. Espinosa A.F. Michael J.A. 1988 Catalog of intensities and magnitudes for earthquakes in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, 1786-1981 10.3133/b1840 https://dggs.alaska.gov/webpubs/usgs/b/text/b1840.pdf United States Geological Survey 31 December 2022 Davies J. Sykes Lorraine House L. Jacob Klaus Shumagin Seismic Gap, Alaska Peninsula: History of great earthquakes, tectonic setting, and evidence for high seismic potential Journal of Geophysical Research 10 May 1981 86 B5 3821–3855 10.1029/JB086iB05p03821 1981JGR....86.3821D https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB086iB05p03821 31 December 2022 subscription Doser Diane I. Revisiting the 1979 St. Elias, Alaska, Aftershock Sequence and Its Regional Significance Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 2012 102 6 2392–2404 10.1785/0120120007 2012BuSSA.102.2392D Hwang Lorraine J. Kanamori Hiroo Of the May 7, 1986 Andreanof Islands Earthquake source parameters Geophysical Research Letters December 1986 13 13 1426–1429 10.1029/GL013i013p01426 1986GeoRL..13.1426H https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/GL013i013p01426 31 December 2022 subscription The 1957 great Aleutian earthquake http://www.openseismo.org/contributors/Lee/MoWorking_Backups/Mo2012_0424backup/MoWorking_DONE/Papers_Proc_DONE/JMJet94_Johnson-etal_Pageoph1994.pdf J. M. Johnson Y. Tanioka L. J. Ruff K. Satake Kenji Satake H. Kanamori Hiroo Kanamori L. R. Sykes 1994 Pure and Applied Geophysics 142 1 3, 4 10.1007/bf00875966 1994PApGe.142....3J 2016-05-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20160531162614/http://www.openseismo.org/contributors/Lee/MoWorking_Backups/Mo2012_0424backup/MoWorking_DONE/Papers_Proc_DONE/JMJet94_Johnson-etal_Pageoph1994.pdf 2016-05-31 dead 2027.42/43159 129109233 free Kanamori Hiroo The energy release in great earthquakes Journal of Geophysical Research 10 July 1977 82 20 2981–2987 10.1029/JB082i020p02981 1977JGR....82.2981K https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB082i020p02981 31 December 2022 United States Tsunamis, (including United States possessions) 1690–1988: Publication 41-2 https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/data/publications/pub41-2.pdf Lander James F. Lockridge P. A. 1989 United States Department of Commerce 44–46, 97 TSUNAMIS AFFECTING ALASKA 1737-1996 https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/data/publications/Kgrd-31.pdf Lander James F. 1996 United States Department of Commerce 82, 138 Lay Thorne Ye Lingling Bai Yefei Cheung Kwok Fai Kanamori Hiroo Freymueller Jeffrey Steblov Grigory M. Kogan Mikhail G. Rupture Along 400 km of the Bering Fracture Zone in the Komandorsky Islands Earthquake ( M W 7.8) of 17 July 2017: 2017 Mw 7.8 Komandorsky Is. Earthquake Geophysical Research Letters December 8, 2017 44 1–4 10.1002/2017GL076148 55917937 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076148 August 8, 2022 Nicolsky D. J. Freymueller J. T. Witter R. C. Suleimani E. N. Koehler R. D. Evidence for shallow megathrust slip across the Unalaska seismic gap during the great 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake, eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska Geophysical Research Letters 10 September 2016 43 9 10328–10337 10.1002/2016GL070704 2016GeoRL..4310328N 132656278 free Salsman Garrett G. The Tsunami of March 9, 1957, as Recorded at Tide Stations http://itic.ioc-unesco.org/images/stories/list_of_tsunamis/1957/1957TB6_Salsman.pdf July 1959 United States Government Printing Office 7, 8 Stover C. W. Coffman J. L. Seismicity of the United States, 1568–1989 (Revised) – U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527 https://books.google.com/books?id=bY0KAQAAIAAJ 1993 United States Government Printing Office 29, 54, 55, 63 Sykes Lynn R. Aftershock zones of great earthquakes, seismicity gaps, and earthquake prediction for Alaska and the Aleutians Journal of Geophysical Research 10 November 1971 76 32 8021–8041 10.1029/JB076i032p08021 1971JGR....76.8021S https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB076i032p08021 31 December 2022 subscription Tape Carl Lomax Anthony Aftershock Regions of Aleutian-Alaska Megathrust Earthquakes, 1938–2021 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 2022 127 7 e2022JB024336 10.1029/2022JB024336 2022JGRB..12724336T 249857173 free Witter Robert C. Carver Gary A. Briggs Richard W. Gelfenbaum Guy Koehler Richard D. la Selle SeanPaul Bender Adrian M. Engelhart Simon E. Hemphill-Haley Eileen Hill Troy D. Unusually large tsunamis frequent a currently creeping part of the Aleutian megathrust Geophysical Research Letters 16 January 2016 43 1 76–84 10.1002/2015GL066083 2016GeoRL..43...76W 131231692 free Witter Robert C. Briggs Rich Engelhart Simon E. Gelfenbaum Guy Koehler Richard D. Nelson Alan la Selle SeanPaul Corbett Reide Wallace Kristi Evidence for frequent, large tsunamis spanning locked and creeping parts of the Aleutian megathrust Geological Society of America Bulletin 16 November 2019 131 5–6 707–729 10.1130/B32031.1 2019GSAB..131..707W 134362013 https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-abstract/131/5-6/707/566656/Evidence-for-frequent-large-tsunamis-spanning 31 December 2022 subscription Active Faults of the World https://books.google.com/books?id=aQUgAwAAQBAJ Yeats R. 2012 Cambridge University Press 978-0521190855 23 External links USGS Earthquake Hazards Program – Andreanof Islands, Alaska, Magnitude 8.6 Tsunami! – 1957 Aleutian tsunami https://web.archive.org/web/20100611082330/http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/general/historic/aleutian57.html 2010-06-11 The March 9, 1957 Aleutian Tsunami – George Pararas-Carayannis 886030 collapsed Category:1957 earthquakes Category:1957 in Alaska 1957 1957 Andreanof Category:March 1957 in the United States Category:March 1957 in Oceania Category:Andreanof Islands 1957