Issue
Research has indicated that the glacier loss could be causing earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more since the last century.
Background
Alaska is located on a fragile location, where there are impending chances of earthquakes caused due to tectonic activity.
Details
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Melting glaciers and shifting tectonic plates could be causing the rise in earthquakes in the region.
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The ground below the big glacier springs up like a spongy mattress after pressure in form of glacier is removed, which causes tectonic plates to change positions and triggers earthquakes.
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Earthquake after the glacial melt is common in regions such as Canada and Scandinavia. The pattern was however difficult to detect in Alaska.
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This is because Alaska is located at the boundary between North American tectonic plate and the pacific plate, where there are frequent earthquakes.
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The melting of glacial ice was also causing the land in Alaskan region to rise by about 1.5 inches per year.
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Melting ice is not directly linked with earthquakes in the region but it can control the timing and severity.
Earthquakes
An earthquake is a shaking event of the surface of the Earth that results from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that forms seismic waves.
Glaciers
A glacier is a large body of dense ice that is continuously moving due to its own weight. A glacier forms where the availability of snow exceeds its melting over many years.