2014 Aleutian Islands earthquake

The 2014 Aleutian Islands earthquake occurred on 23 June at 11:53 HDT with a moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII. The shock occurred in the Aleutian Islands – part of the US state of Alaska – southeast of Little Sitkin Island.

Earthquake

The earthquake was initially reported as 8.0 before it was downgraded to 7.9. The rupture was on a normal fault, at ~107 km depth. Based on the geometry of the slab, and the relative movement of the tectonic plates, the slip vector is likely to have been oblique down-dip towards the ESE. The fault plane appears to be oblique, striking NW-SE and cutting steeply into the subducting slab.

A tsunami warning was issued, but was soon downgraded to a tsunami advisory for much of the Aleutian Islands; however, the hypocenter was too deep to generate a tsunami that would affect the Pacific basin. A small non-destructive tsunami was generated, with heights of 17 cm on Amchitka.