Check these links out for more info on recent activity
11-4-02 Inside Mentasta Lodge in the
lounge area after some cleanup. Everything was pretty busted up and sticky.
One of the cabins at Mentasta Lodge fell off of its pilings. Many buildings in the area are on similar supports and have been structurally compromised.
This is a pic of somebodys driveway off of Mentasta Road.
As of today, 11-7-02, I am hearing they have both lanes of the Mensasta road open again and are working to open the school so residents can use the facility.
The gas pump island at Mentasta Lodge seems intact above ground. The parking area is divided by rifts of up to 9" in many areas.
Some notable damage to the pipeline.
Another pic of the highway after DOT opened one lane by temporarily filling in the largest rifts. As of 11-6-02 Highway open 24 hours with a pilot car so temporary transportation can resume.
Difficult to put a number on such a huge disaster. DOT has done an excellent job of emergency patching. They were hard at it from the beginning and working all night out there still.
Thank you for taking to time to look. It has all been pretty amazing. The lack of damage to sturucures the most. There are a lot of cosmetic damages to buildings and some foundation and basement cracks, but very few people have been displaced. Everybody is pretty much back on their feet now.
As of today 11-10-02, aftershocks have continued to dwindle. A 3.5 last time I checked, in the area 35 mi. ESE of Slana, Alaska has been the biggest in the last nine hour time frame.
Assesment of damages to infastructure by state and fed is winding down. Damage to the highways is so extensive that I would imagine it will take many months just to find all of the weakened areas. Continued aftershocks or other small quakes may cause more damage to these areas. We have been expecting cold weather for at least a month now, and that will have some effect on patching and reconstruction efforts.
Sigrn Hreinsdttir and Evelyn Price from the Geophysical Institute at University of Alaska, Fairbanks observed sand blows, cracks, and "fountain features" on or next to the Northway Road, East of Tok, Alaska (general area 62.98N, 141.9W, see their photos at http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/input/sigrun/sprunga2/northway/northway.html
Bill Perkins from Shannon & Wilson, Seattle and the Shannon & Wilson Fairbanks office have been visiting sites damaged during M7.9 earthquake. Photos from their post-earthquake reconnaissance are just coming in, and can be found on their web site:http://clients.shanwil.net/project.php?projectid=Fairbanks_Quake_2002
11-6-02 Mentasta Lodge is up and running as much as possible. Looks a lot better inside today. Although I noticed they had lined the kitchen with milk bottles full of water! The gas pumps are working and DOT and construction crews are using the facility as a common gathering place. The water is and has been working here for a few days although they had broken lines initially.
11-6-02 Water levels in some areas seem to be moving up and down from day to day. It is impossible to tell without standing out there all day and night with a tape measure or checking a measuring device at a set schedule. The stong smell of sulfer down here at night is hard to miss.
The Tok River bridge on the Alaska Highway.
The Tanana bridge on the Alaska Highway. You can see where the structure of the riverbed has moved under the bridge support.
