The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Alaska on July 16, 2023 was caused by a movement along a tectonic fault. Faults are fractures in the Earth’s crust that form when the two sides of the crust move against each other. When the pressure along a fault becomes too great, an earthquake occurs, and the two sides of the fault move suddenly.
In the case of the Alaska earthquake, the fault that moved was the Aleutian Fault. This fault is a strike-slip fault, which means that the two sides of the fault move parallel to each other. The movement along this fault caused uplift in some areas and subsidence in other areas. The earthquake was felt throughout Alaska, and it also caused damage in some areas. There were no reports of injuries or deaths. Here are some sources of geological studies that can provide more information about the earthquake:
United States Geological Survey: https://www.usgs.gov/
National Earthquake Information Center: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/
American Geophysical Union: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
