Earthquake and Volcano

We had a moderate earthquake (magnitude 6.1 initially, now called a 5.7) last Saturday. It happened at about 9am and was noticably quieter than the California earthquakes we've experienced, but it shook the doors on the hinges for about 15 seconds. That quake was followed up with warnings from the Alaska Volcano Observatory that an eruption of Mt. Redoubt was "likely within hours or days". The volcano quieted down some on Monday, but they still say it could erupt soon. It last erupted in 1990 and dropped about an inch of ash on Anchorage. There are quite a few active volcanos in Alaska, and three erupted on the Aleution chain this summer, but this would be the first time since 1992 (Mt. Spurr)that one of the few across the inlet from Anchorage erupted - those 3 or 4 across the inlet are the ones that can likely lay a significant amount of ash on Anchorage and the valley. The pics are of the earthquake location, the volcano locations and what Redoubt looked like when it last erupted. We have a webcam near the crater, but it hasn't been working lately. Scientists are trying to fix it before it erupts. Here is the link to the AVO site: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php . If they can get the webcam fixed, we might get to see it erupt real-time (but I'm glad I'm not the one climbing up to fix it!). If anyone is ever interested in tracking any Alaskan earthquakes, here is our local site: http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/Seis/recenteqs/index.html or for tsunamis, see our Warning Center right here in Palmer-Wasilla: http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/ .

Yeah, we have our fair share of natural disasters in Alaska - but realistically, you're far more likely to be eaten by a bear or trampled by a moose than die in an earthquake, tsunami or volcano here, so that makes us all feel better! One thing is certainly true about Alaska - it's never boring! And the emergency stockpile purchases just keep growing! I can now add respirators and enough plastic and duct tape to seal off nearly the entire house to the list.