Earthquake in Prince William Sound

This morning I woke up and the earth was moving - literally! I was jolted out of bed by an earthquake! The whole thing lasted no more than 20 seconds, but while it was happening I just wondered how long it would go on. The whole room was shaking pretty hard and there was a loud rumbling noise the entire time. I wouldn't really say it was scary - things weren't falling off the walls or anything. Besides, I didn't have time to even think to be scared before it was all over. After it ended, I checked USGS and the Alaska Earthquake Information Center on the internet, and learned that it measured 4.5 magnitude and was centered about 28 miles SSW of Valdez. It was nowhere near as strong or as long lasting as the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake that devastated the town of Valdez, costing over 30 lives and eventually forcing the town to move 4 miles to a new location with more stable ground. That earthquake lasted close to 5 minutes and measured at 9.2. Luckily, today's earthquake was short and didn't cause any damage.

The yellow square marks the epicenter of today's earthquake, about 30 miles from Valdez