Earthquake near Sterling, AK

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 120 km (75 mi) from the epicentre. In Sterling, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Sterling 10 km, intensity III · Soldotna 24 km, intensity III · Kenai 31 km, intensity III · Nikiski 32 km, intensity III · Kalifornsky 39 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 60 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,800× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 4.4 about 60 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 130× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.1 on 2017-09-04.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.8 24 km ENE of Sterling, Alaska · 18 km ENE of this epicentre Oct 3, 1954
2. 6.7 6 km WNW of Nikiski, Alaska · 39 km WNW of this epicentre Jun 18, 1934
3. 6.4 19 km SSE of Tyonek, Alaska · 36 km NNW of this epicentre Jul 30, 1941
4. 6.0 31 km S of Funny River, Alaska · 44 km S of this epicentre Oct 24, 1937
5. 5.7 19 km NNW of Nikiski, Alaska · 45 km NW of this epicentre Oct 23, 1936

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 60.6195, -150.7111. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 1.7 7 km E of Sterling, Alaska 21:14 UTC
2. 1.5 5 km W of Funny River, Alaska 06:21 UTC
3. 1.6 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska 00:04 UTC
4. 2.3 2 km SSW of Point Possession, Alaska 10:38 UTC
5. 1.9 12 km E of Nikiski, Alaska 20:19 UTC
6. 1.5 3 km ESE of Kenai, Alaska 04:04 UTC
7. 1.5 12 km WNW of Point Possession, Alaska 05:03 UTC
8. 2.4 12 km WNW of Point Possession, Alaska 04:12 UTC
9. 1.8 5 km WSW of Funny River, Alaska 10:06 UTC
10. 1.6 20 km ENE of Nikiski, Alaska 16:48 UTC
11. 1.5 4 km WSW of Funny River, Alaska 11:41 UTC
12. 1.7 15 km SSE of Point Possession, Alaska 20:53 UTC
13. 1.9 17 km SE of Point Possession, Alaska 21:14 UTC
14. 2.1 23 km ESE of Point Possession, Alaska 18:28 UTC
15. 2.4 7 km SSW of Funny River, Alaska 21:20 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 13:13 UTC. 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.