Earthquake Chains

Recently a chain of notably large earthquakes occurred in North and Central America. On April 16, Ecuador was struck by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake with a fatality count of 272, and thousands injured.
Earthquakes in Alaska have also occurred. One being the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the Cook Inlet region of Alaska on Jan. 24. It had no death toll, but it damaged buildings and roads, and 5,000 people lost power.
“I think it would be devastating if an earthquake hit the Salem area,” North student Austin Long ‘19 said.
Around the world, small earthquakes happen frequently without affecting people, but larger ones are different. The amount of damage that a large earthquake does to land and buildings is significant, but it is devastating when you take into consideration the number of lives that could potentially be lost due to these natural disasters.
“We should get prepared for the large earthquakes that have been happening more recently,” Erik Alvarez ‘18 said. “We should localize more, and not rely so much on foreign goods.”
Currently, Ecuador is ranked #1 for death toll by earthquakes in 2016. Ecuador is being pounded by earthquake after massive earthquake causing severe damage to the small country.
Alaska also has a long history of devastating earthquakes. In fact, the second biggest earthquake to ever be recorded was an Alaskan earthquake that happened in 1964, right by Anchorage. It had a death toll of 131, and caused 2.3 billion dollars worth of land damage.