QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.8ml

58 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded 58 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska, at 7:45 pm AKST on 5 February 2017 (04:45 UTC), 101 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 101 km deep · released about 7.6 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 66 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
Magnitude
M 3.8 (ml)
Depth
101 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 66 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1197 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.8 about 7.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 16× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 7.1 on 2016-01-24 — about 89,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 75 km WNW of Ninilchik, Alaska · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 52 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska · 19 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 70 km E of Port Alsworth, Alaska · 35 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 53 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska · 7 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 66 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska · 22 km NNW 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 59.8418, -152.8696. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 66 km (41 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 61 km WNW of Happy Valley, Alaska
  2. 1.7 48 km NE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  3. 2.4 47 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska
  4. 1.6 59 km WSW of Anchor Point, Alaska
  5. 1.5 Southern Alaska
  6. 1.7 49 km W of Nanwalek, Alaska
  7. 2.2 74 km E of Port Alsworth, Alaska
  8. 3.4 50 km SE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  9. 1.7 55 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  10. 1.8 28 km WSW of Anchor Point, Alaska
  11. 2.7 66 km WNW of Anchor Point, Alaska
  12. 2.0 58 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  13. 1.8 Southern Alaska
  14. 1.6 56 km ESE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  15. 1.9 61 km ESE of Pedro Bay, 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.