QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Elmendorf Air Force Base in the 24 hours to 6:09 pm AKST (03:09 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 25 km (16 mi) NNW, at 6:49 am AKDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 485 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Elmendorf Air Force Base

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK, at 7:23 am AKST on 15 November 2016 (16:23 UTC), 25 km deep.

USGS: 14 km SSE of Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska

20 km (13 mi) ESE of Anchorage, AK

7:23 am AKST, Nov 15, 2016 · · 25 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Elmendorf Air Force Base Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Anchorage Municipality 16 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
7:23 am AKST on 15 November 2016 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK · earthquakes near Elmendorf Air Force Base
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Anchorage Municipality, 16 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1198 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Elmendorf Air Force Base, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Anchorage, Eagle River.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.2 on 2016-02-15 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.7 13 km S of Girdwood, Alaska · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 22 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 26 km SSW of Anchorage, Alaska · 33 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 8 km NW of Knik-Fairview, Alaska · 49 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 13 km ESE of Eagle River, Alaska · 22 km NE of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 61.1323, -149.5629. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Anchorage Municipality, AK 16 km (10 mi) ENE earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.9 11 km SW of Big Lake, Alaska
  2. 2.3 5 km SW of Big Lake, Alaska
  3. 1.7 4 km NE of Hope, Alaska
  4. 1.6 8 km S of Big Lake, Alaska
  5. 1.6 2 km W of Girdwood, Alaska
  6. 2.1 20 km WSW of Hope, Alaska
  7. 1.6 8 km SSW of Anchorage, Alaska
  8. 3.0 3 km NE of Knik, Alaska
  9. 2.1 5 km SE of Knik, Alaska
  10. 1.5 5 km SSW of Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
  11. 1.6 18 km N of Girdwood, Alaska
  12. 1.9 6 km SSE of Big Lake, Alaska
  13. 1.8 6 km ENE of Big Lake, Alaska
  14. 1.8 7 km NNW of Anchorage, Alaska
  15. 2.0 2 km ENE of Anchorage, Alaska

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.