Yukon earthquake reveals a fault line hidden beneath glaciers | CBC Accessibility

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near the Alaska–Yukon border at 12:41 p.m. local time on Dec. 6, 2025. The event, with a rupture likely 50–100 km long, was felt strongly in Burwash Landing and Haines Junction and as far as Whitehorse (≈250 km). Field reconnaissance by the Yukon Geological Survey in Kluane National Park has identified landslides and other surface effects and helped confirm a decades-old hypothesis that a fault exists beneath glacial cover in the region where major plate-boundary systems intersect. Aftershocks continue; researchers from the Yukon Geological Survey and Alaska Earthquake Center (including Michael West and Jan Dettmer) report international interest in mapping the newly exposed fault network. Damage to buildings and people reported in the Yukon was limited to minor items falling off shelves, though geological impacts (landslides, mountain-building deformation, potential glacier-related instability) are evident in the park. The discovery is expected to inform seismic hazard assessment and future monitoring of communities and infrastructure in southwest Yukon.