About the Matanuska River Watershed
What the Coalition is Working to Preserve
Castle Mountain Fault and Earthquakes
Chickaloon Coal Field- UPDATE!
A study by the USGS shows the Castle Mountain fault may be ready to produce a strong magnitude 6 to 7 earthquake.
Peter Haeusseler said his research demonstrated that major earthquakes occurred on this fault on average every 700 years or so in the last 2,700 years, and that the last significant earthquake along the fault occurred about 650 years ago.
Geologists consider the Castle Mountain fault one of the largest and most significant in the region.
The 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake that occurred in southern Alaska was related to a slip of the Pacific plate beneath southern Alaska.
In contrast, said Haeusseler, earthquakes that occur on shallow geologic structures, such as the Castle Mountain fault and the related field of structures in Cook Inlet, may not produce great earthquakes, but they are closer to where people live and work, and as a result may have more impact when they occur.
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