Kenai, Alaska P.T. Article For the Alaskan Daily Paper: Joe Oppee Do you live in Kenai, Alaska? If you do you must read this article. This will inform you about earthquakes and tsunamis. If you live there you are in danger from an earthquake or tsunami. Kenai is on a convergent boundary, which means that the plates are pushing against each other, forcing the ocean plate under the land plate into the mantle. This is called subduction. On March 27, 1964, Alaska suffered from a 9.2 magnitude earthquake which is the strongest ever recorded in North America. It triggered tsunamis down the entire North American western seaboard. Earthquakes like the 9.2 happen every 300-800 years so it isn’t expected to happen again for a while. The main sources of income are tourism, oil, natural gas, and fishing so an earthquake could damage the economy. A natural disaster would destroy the tourism aspect, and could damage the oil and natural gas wells, which would also impact fishing, but we are preparing. Kenai is making earthquake “ready” buildings. They are also preparing a C.E.R.T (community emergency response team) which trains people, in the event of a natural disaster, how to help people until proper authorities can arrive. The type of plate boundary also forces tsunamis to occur due to mass displacement. . There are also guidelines that approve if a building is tsunami “ready”. These tsunamis are especially dangerous because we are so close to the ocean. Residence of Kenai have an average income of $53,735 (in 2009), which is lower than the average Alaskan. Because of financial reasons, repair will not be short or easy. Earthquakes followed by tsunamis are a recipe for disaster. They will absolutely destroy towns. Unfortunately the recent earthquake in Japan is an example of what could happen in Kenai, and the cost to rebuild is estimated to be tens of billions of dollars.
Citations "Earthquakes." All-Hazard Mitigation Plan: Section 4.0 Earthquake. Kenai Peninsula Borough, n.d. Web. 08 Jan 2012. <http://www2.borough.kenai.ak.us/emergency/hazmit/2011/4.0 _earthquake_0711.pdf>. Kenai Chamber of Commerce. "Work Here." Kenai Alaska Chamber of Commerce. ITS Alaska, 2009. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. <http://kenaichamber.org/aboutKenai/workHere.htm>. Onboard Informatics. "Kenai, Alaska." Stats about All US Cities. 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. <http://www.city-data.com/city/Kenai-Alaska.html>.