SIX HOURS TO ANCHORAGE: The Longest Night?

This is now Day 51 of the Lower Puna Eruption.  Homes destroyed up to 614 and fissure 22, close to Puna Geothermal Ventures, is now fountaining.

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Interestingly enough, you would think Anchorage would be a lot further away from Hilo compared to Seattle.  The difference is only a few percent so a tsunami would still take around six hours to this Alaskan city.  

As Alaska in 1946 sent the most destructive (50 feet high, 159 deaths, $300 million damage) tsunami to Hilo, could Anchorage be a potential target of a mega landfall from the Big Island?  The answer is probably not because the wave would need to pass through the Cook (yes, same Captain James Cook, and this time named so by George Vancouver) Inlet, but, most importantly, there is no Hilo or Waikiki at the shore line.  Most of Anchorage is at an elevation of around 100 feet.

In doing this research, I got two surprises.  The second most serious tsunami had a Chile origin, in 1960, where waves over Hilo reached heights of 35 feet, killing 61 and causing $171million damages.  The most shocking was a 1975 tsunami that killed 2 in Hilo and left a $5.6 million bill.  First, I wonder what I was doing on 29 November 1975, for I don't recall anything all that serious happening then.  More so, the source was a 7.2 magnitude earthquake off the southeastern coast of the Big Island.  Seven years ago I reported in The Huffington Post about being in a 7.1 earthquake in Tokyo.  

The Kilauea Volcano south flank today is a huge concern of the U.S. Geological Survey.  To quote:

There are at least 15 giant landslides that have slid off the Hawaiian Islands in the past 4 million years, with the most recent happening only 100,000 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. One block of rock that slid off Oahu is the size of Manhattan.

That was the Nuuanu Landslide.  I live on Nuuanu Avenue on the island of Oahu.

Well, so much for why I went to Seattle and now am in Anchorage.  My flight yesterday from Seattle to Anchorage was uneventful, but it was the Summer Solstice, and on this longest day of the year, I saw mostly snow.  

After I landed, hmmm, two large white 747s with no name.  Noticed also that the airport is called the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.  

Stevens became embroiled in a scandal, lost a bid for re-election for it, but had already served 60 years in the U.S. Senate, and subsequently was mostly exonerated.  He was a Republican and close colleague of Democrat Senator Daniel Inouye, who served for 59 years, and I originally departed from the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

My taxi from the airport to the Sheraton had a meter that did not work.  Oh, oh, I thought, some kind of scam.  However, the driver looked honest enough.  When he said he'd charge me $20 I gave him $25, which seemed about right.  Checked later and the fare is usually from $20-$25.

The Club Lounge here serves food for free, but no alcohol.  The closest liquor store is about half a mile away.  The Sheraton is on one end of Anchorage, with the Marriott on the other end ten blocks away, and where that store was.  That's Anchorage.  Two one-way streets about half a mile long.  Sort of looks like downtown Las Vegas with no casinos.

So I took a walk, got to my intended spot and saw that the cheapest Alaska wines were from $20 to $25, but for half that price I could buy a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand and a highly rated Bogle Petite Sirah, which I did.  I also got a bottle each of Alaska gin and beer.  I'll be here four full days and have virtually unlimited baggage freedom to Honolulu.

You would think the cold would make flower growth impossible, but the temperature hovered around 70 F, and the town was reasonably colorful.

Essentially, Alaska Air and the Sheraton Anchorage supplied all the food today.  And this was a monumental day, for it was the longest of the year.

So I decided to take photos of the second shortest night of the year.  The previous night (June 20-21) was twelve seconds shorter.  These photos were taken at 2:22AM, 3:30AM, 4:00AM--sunrise was at 4:21AM--and 4:40AM:

It got dark enough that cars had to use lights, but there was always some twilight.  That green plot to the left is a cemetery, while the body of water at the other end of town is the Cook Inlet. Thus, if you are worried about a mega-tsunami, stay at the Sheraton.

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