St. Paul area hit with slew of higher magnitude earthquakes in last 48 hours
5.05 ML magnitude earthquake, 8:40 a.m. Sunday
The St. Paul region in the Pribilof Islands have been receiving some high activity of higher magnitude earthquakes in the last 48 hours, officials say.
"We have seen five higher magnitude earthquakes (above 4.5 ML) in that region since Friday afternoon," said Paul Huang, of the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer.
The first of the higher magnitude earthquakes took place Friday around 4:39 p.m. with a magnitude of about 4.09 ML according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.
Two more higher magnitude earthquakes followed on Saturday morning, within 10 minutes of each other. The first earthquake took place at around 8:39 a.m. with a magnitude of about 5.05 ML. This was followed closely by a second one at 8:49 a.m. with a magnitude of about 4.52 ML.
Later that morning, the area received its fourth strong earthquake at about 11:47 a.m. with a magnitude of about 4.83 ML.
The fifth and sixth earthquakes in the region took place Sunday morning. The first earthquake on Sunday took place at about 2:20 a.m. with a magnitude of 4.89 ML. The next earthquake, which is the most recent one felt in the area, took place at 8:40 a.m. with a magnitude of about 5.05 ML.
"It is interesting because this area is not historically prone to higher magnitude earthquakes," said Huang. "The last big earthquake we had in that region was a 6.7 ML earthquake in 1991."
There have also been several lower magnitude earthquakes with a magnitude of less than 4.5 ML.
Officials and residents alike are worried about the sudden frequency of earthquakes.
"I felt one this morning. The whole house was rumbling like the dryer was on. But it wasn't the dryer." said Andrew Fratis, a resident of St. Paul Island.
"There isn't a tsunami warning because the waters are shallow in that region," said Huang. "But we are keeping an eye out."
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