Denali Fault
This month is #preparedness month at USGS. We'll be sharing information throughout the month related earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural hazards as well as information about being informed and prepared for events like this.
This photo, taken in November 2002, shows USGS's Peter Haeussler preparing to measure the offset of a crevasse on the Canwell Glacier. On Nov 3, 2002 a M7.9 earthquake struck near Denali National Park in Alaska—the largest event on the Denali fault since 1912—and last 1-1/2 - 2 minutes. Although the Denali Fault shifted about 14 feet beneath the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, the pipeline did not break, averting a major economic and environmental disaster. This was largely the result of stringent design specifications based on geologic studies done by the USGS and others 30 years earlier. Original public domain image from Flickr