After an Earthquake in America’s Only Arctic State, What Now Lurks Underfoot?

One of those words—especially for baby boomers who grew up during the Cold War—is “radiation.” Many people innately relate it to their elementary school years of under-the-school-desk exercises, public yellow rectangle signs with three inverted black triangles noting “fallout shelter” or geography lessons framed by events at Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Three-Mile Island, and Chernobyl. Most recently, the eighth anniversary of the earthquake induced nuclear meltdown at Fukashima, Japan has again reminded people of the sometimes horrific effects of radiation. Earthquakes are not uncommon in Alaska, nor the possibilities of resulting Tsunamis. Located on the ring of fire, Alaska has more earthquakes than any other region of the U.S. (70…