Alaska Earthquake Follows Typhoon Halong’s Destruction in Coastal Villages

The ground trembled off Alaska’s southern shores Thursday, delivering a fresh blow just as the state struggles to recover from unprecedented flooding. A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck at 11:48 a.m. ET, about 39 miles off the coast of Akutan, a community of nearly 1,600 people that also hosts North America’s largest fish processing plant.

“More than a dozen people have issued reports of shaking to the USGS,” the agency said, adding that the quake occurred along the Aleutian Arc, a region known for seismic volatility. Though the epicenter was offshore, tremors reached Dutch Harbor, a vital hub in the nation’s fishing industry.

This quake compounds disaster in western Alaska, where Typhoon Halong’s remnants had just unleashed a record storm surge. That surge obliterated homes in low‑lying villages, claimed one life, and left two people missing. The coastal villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok bore the worst of it, with entire communities either submerged or leveled.

“In one of the most significant airlifts in Alaska’s history, hundreds were flown about 500 miles to Anchorage,” officials said, after local shelters, especially in Bethel, filled to capacity. In Kwigillingok, the US Coast Guard rescued two dozen people whose homes had floated out to sea.

Authorities confirmed 121 homes were destroyed in Kipnuk, though all residents were accounted for. Ella Mae Kashatok, 67, was found dead in Kwigillingok, and search efforts were halted for Chester Kashatok, 41, and Vernon Pavil, 71.

With water, sewer, and well systems failing across multiple villages, state emergency teams are scrambling to find longer‑term housing for evacuees and safeguard against further earthquakes.