USGS
A magnitude 6.4 quake followed by nearly 200 aftershocks with one registering 6.0 on the Richter scale has struck Alaska's village of Kaktovik which is part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where the Trump administration plans to allow oil drilling, but no injuries or damage were reported.
The quake, initially measured at a magnitude 6.5, was followed by around 200 aftershocks, the largest of which was a 6.0 tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Reuters reported the temblor, which occurred just before 7 a.m. (1500 GMT), was the most powerful on record to hit Alaska’s oil-producing North Slope, said Paul Huang, a seismologist and deputy director of the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.
The quake had no impact on operations of the Trans Alaska Pipeline system that carries North Slope crude 800 miles (1,300 km) to the marine terminal at Valdez, according to a statement from Alyeska, the consortium that runs the pipeline.
The two mag 6+ quakes bring the total to 3 major quakes in August and brings the total this year to 56 which is 5 less than at the same stage last year.
Quakes
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