QuakeIndex

Fault · Alaska

Yakutat fault (also known as Foothills fault)

138 kmlong (86 mi), as mapped
1–5 mm/yrhow fast it slips
last 150 yearssince it last broke the surface
78quakes of M2.5+ within 10 km since 2016

In plain English

The two sides move 1 to 5 mm a year — 10 to 50 cm (4 to 20 inches) every century.

It has broken the ground surface within the last 150 years.

The largest earthquake recorded near it was M 8.2 in 1899 (The 1899 Yakutat Bay, Alaska Earthquakes (Largest Major Event)) — about 55,000,000 times the energy of an M3.0, the size people start to feel. It released about 26 megatons of TNT.

This week vs. its last ten years

0/100

quiet

0 quakes of M1.5+ within 5 km of the trace in the last 7 days — busier than 0% of weeks since 2016. A normal week: 0–1.

Computed from the USGS catalogue · a description of the past, not a forecast · method

Alaska-Aleutian subduction zoneDenali faultFairweather fault systemTransition faultChaix Hills fault (Chugach-St. Elias fold and thrust belt)Coal Glacier fault (Chugach-St. Elias fold and thrust belt)Malaspina fault (Chugach-St. Elias fold and thrust belt)Boundary faultBancas Point faultOtmeloi fault M 8.2 · 1899 · The 1899 Yakutat Bay, Alaska Earthquakes (Largest Major Event)
The Yakutat fault (also known as Foothills fault) as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 78 of the M2.5+ earthquakes within 10 km of it since 2016 (dots), and the epicentres of the large historic earthquakes recorded near it (rings). Traces: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database. Historic epicentres are estimates.

Every year since 2016

Earthquakes of M2.5+ with an epicentre within 10 km of the mapped trace. Near is not the same as on: some will have slipped on neighbouring faults.

The big ones recorded near it

  1. M 8.2 The 1899 Yakutat Bay, Alaska Earthquakes (Largest Major Event)
    September 10, 1899 · epicentre 21 km from the trace
  2. M 4.6 82 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
    March 19, 2024 · epicentre 2 km from the trace
  3. M 4.1 51 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
    September 6, 2021 · epicentre 2 km from the trace
  4. M 4.0 50 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
    September 5, 2021 · epicentre 7 km from the trace

Before 1973 from the USGS ComCat historical catalogue (within 25 km; epicentres of old earthquakes are estimates). Since 2016, M4+ within 10 km.

Most recent near it

  1. M 2.5 73 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
    2026-04-28 · 2 km from the trace
  2. M 2.5 48 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
    2026-03-01 · 1 km from the trace
  3. M 2.5 50 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
    2024-08-26 · 4 km from the trace
  4. M 2.6 27 km NE of Yakutat, Alaska
    2024-05-20 · 5 km from the trace
  5. M 4.6 82 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
    2024-03-19 · 2 km from the trace
  6. M 3.1 37 km E of Yakutat, Alaska
    2024-02-18 · 9 km from the trace

Neighbouring faults

Fault trace, slip rate and age: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database (public domain), simplified for the web. Earthquakes: USGS ComCat. QuakeIndex does not forecast earthquakes; a fault's history describes the past. For early warning use ShakeAlert.