Alaska Survival Guide: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Ashfall, Deep Cold, Bears and Being Remote

The Alaska Earthquake Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks says it detects an earthquake about every fifteen minutes on average. It also says that 75 percent of all earthquakes in the United States larger than magnitude 5 happen in Alaska. Most are small. The big ones have shaped how the state prepares.

⚠ Do not run outside, and do not stand in a doorway. Ready.gov advises against both: falling objects are the main danger, and a doorway does not protect you from them. Expect aftershocks and be ready to Drop, Cover and Hold On again.

After a quake, leave damaged buildings and look out for gas leaks, water leaks and downed power lines. If you are on the coast, the next section matters more than anything here.

NOAA's National Tsunami Warning Center is in Palmer, Alaska, and it posts official alerts at tsunami.gov. The National Weather Service warns that after a nearby earthquake a tsunami can arrive within minutes, before any official message reaches you. In 1964 the waves caused almost all the deaths, so on the Alaska coast this is the part to learn by heart.

NWS says that if you are on the beach or near the water and feel an earthquake of any size and length, you should head for high ground or inland as soon as you can move safely. If you are outside the hazard zone when a warning comes in, stay where you are unless officials tell you otherwise.

⚠ Do not go back down because the first wave has passed or the warning has been cancelled. NWS says a cancellation does not mean the danger is over. Stay out of the hazard zone until officials say it is safe.

Before you need it, walk your route to high ground from home, work and school, including in the dark and in bad weather, as NWS suggests. The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management posts tsunami evacuation maps on ready.alaska.gov. If you are visiting, NWS says your hotel or campground should be able to tell you the local tsunami plan.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) says Alaska has more than 140 volcanoes and volcanic fields that have been active in the last two million years, about 90 active in the last 10,000 years, and more than 50 active in the past 300 years. AVO names ashfall as the main hazard, to health, infrastructure and aviation. Ash can go a long way: AVO notes that drifting ash from the 1989 to 1990 Redoubt eruption disrupted air traffic as far away as Texas.

AVO hosts ashfall guidelines written by the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network with USGS and partners. They warn that a sustained ashfall may keep people housebound for hours or even days. Their main advice follows.

The state treats heat as part of any emergency kit, not an extra. Its 7-day kit guide says it is important in Alaska to have an emergency heat source for your family, and the state's 2021 kit list includes an indoor-safe heat source with fuel and warm clothing for every family member. A house that freezes during an outage can stop being somewhere you can stay.

The figures above are how an NWS meteorologist described the new regional criteria to KTOO in January 2025. The National Weather Service replaced Alaska's statewide wind chill alerts, which required a wind chill and were set at about -40, with regional Extreme Cold Advisories and Warnings. An advisory is meant for cold a community sees once or twice a year. A warning is for cold it sees about once every few years. For the exact threshold where you live, check your local NWS office.

⚠ Never run a generator indoors (State of Alaska). CDC says to keep portable generators at least 20 feet from doors, windows and vents and to install a battery-operated carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide cannot be seen or smelled. For any wood stove, fireplace or propane heater, follow the manufacturer's venting instructions, as the state advises.

The state also says not to let canned goods freeze. If your food storage is in an unheated space, a long outage can ruin it.

Many Alaska communities are off the road system, and even Anchorage gets most of its goods from outside the state. That is why Alaska's advice asks for more supplies than the usual three days. State sources give different targets, though:

Read these as a minimum and a goal: seven days at least, two weeks if you can. The 7-day guide also suggests three kits: a main kit at home, a go kit for evacuating and a vehicle kit in case you are stranded. For what goes in them, see the main guide's plan and kit chapter.

If someone does not come back, call 911 if it is an emergency. Otherwise contact the nearest Troopers post. The Troopers say there is no waiting period to report a missing person in Alaska. Conditions can turn fast: at Denali, the National Park Service tells backpackers to plan for temperatures from 75 F down to 20 F, possibly on the same day, and gusts of 60 mph or more. Stream crossings are common.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) says all three North American bear species live in Alaska: black bears, brown bears (including grizzlies) and polar bears. Polar bear country has its own guidance, so check with local land managers before you go. The advice below comes from the interagency bear safety framework that ADF&G, the National Park Service and other agencies share.

ADF&G says to practice before you need the spray, including taking off the safety clip and cutting any shipping zip-ties. Inert practice cans are sold for this. Carry it where you can reach it within seconds, on your body rather than on a bike or inside a pack.

⚠ The framework says the old rule, "fight a black bear, play dead with a brown bear," is a myth. How you respond depends on what the bear is doing (defensive or not), not on its species. Climbing a tree does not help either: both black and brown bears climb.

The National Weather Service tells people in tsunami zones to have several ways to get warnings. That advice holds for every hazard on this page.

NWS notes that a nearby quake can bring a tsunami before any alert arrives. Alerts are a backup to your own judgment on the coast, not a replacement for it.