QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Anchor Point, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Anchor Point in the 24 hours to 5:28 am AKST (14:28 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 69 km (43 mi) NE, at 2:30 am AKST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 115 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Anchor Point

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) west of Anchor Point, AK, at 8:38 am AKST on 17 January 2017 (17:38 UTC), 84 km deep.

USGS: 40 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska

8:38 am AKST, Jan 17, 2017 · · 84 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Anchor Point Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 70 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
8:38 am AKST on 17 January 2017 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) west of Anchor Point, AK · earthquakes near Anchor Point
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
84 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 70 km N
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. In Anchor Point, 40 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 4.7 on 2016-05-01 — about 350 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 25 km NW of Nanwalek, Alaska · 32 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 52 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 16 km WNW of Happy Valley, Alaska · 41 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 53 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska · 15 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 66 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska · 41 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 59.7512, -152.5421. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 70 km (43 mi) N earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 63 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  2. 1.6 Southern Alaska
  3. 1.5 51 km W of Nanwalek, Alaska
  4. 2.0 42 km WSW of Anchor Point, Alaska
  5. 1.6 25 km W of Happy Valley, Alaska
  6. 1.9 47 km WNW of Ninilchik, Alaska
  7. 1.7 44 km WNW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  8. 1.7 54 km WSW of Anchor Point, Alaska
  9. 1.8 31 km NW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  10. 1.6 59 km ESE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  11. 1.5 Southern Alaska
  12. 2.2 65 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  13. 1.9 61 km ESE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  14. 1.9 61 km WNW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  15. 2.7 18 km NNW of Nanwalek, 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.