ice quake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
Earthquake near Juneau, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Juneau in the 24 hours to 3:34 am AKST (12:34 UTC). The last one was M 7.0, 367 km (228 mi) NW, at 11:41 am AKST on 6 December 2025, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,058 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Juneau
No: USGS classifies this as a ice quake, not an earthquake. A magnitude 3.4 ice quake was recorded 46 km (28 mi) north-northwest of Juneau, AK, at 9:27 am AKST on 30 December 2016 (18:27 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 45 km NNW of Juneau, Alaska
- When
- 9:27 am AKST on 30 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 46 km (28 mi) north-northwest of Juneau, AK · earthquakes near Juneau
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Juneau City and Borough, 48 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Denali fault, 20 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1197 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Juneau, AK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Juneau, AK. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 58 km (36 mi) from the epicentre. In Juneau, 46 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.
USGS catalogues this as ice quake, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4× more
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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.0 23 km SSE of Mud Bay, Alaska · 42 km NW 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 58.6716, -134.7691. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juneau City and Borough, AK | 48 km (30 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Juneau City and Borough |
| Haines Borough, AK | 66 km (41 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Haines Borough |
| Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, AK | 71 km (44 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Hoonah-Angoon Census Area |
| Skagway Municipality, AK | 104 km (65 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Skagway Municipality |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 40 km ESE of Mud Bay, Alaska
- 1.5 56 km N of Juneau, Alaska
- 1.5 18 km SE of Excursion Inlet, Alaska
- 3.1 59 km N of Juneau, Alaska
- 3.1 60 km ESE of Mud Bay, Alaska
- 2.2 52 km N of Juneau, Alaska
- 3.4 53 km N of Juneau, Alaska
- 1.8 37 km ESE of Mud Bay, Alaska
- 2.1 15 km N of Juneau, Alaska
- 1.8 58 km N of Juneau, Alaska
- 1.8 61 km N of Juneau, Alaska
- 2.0 25 km SSE of Mud Bay, Alaska
- 1.8 Southeastern Alaska
- 2.3 27 km SSE of Mud Bay, Alaska
- 1.8 49 km NNW of Juneau, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.