QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Bear Creek, AK

USGS: 21 km ESE of Primrose, Alaska

2:38 pm AKST, Feb 5, 2018 · · 21 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bear Creek Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Anchorage Municipality 105 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
2:38 pm AKST on 5 February 2018 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) ENE of Bear Creek, AK · earthquakes near Bear Creek
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
17 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Anchorage Municipality, 105 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1148 days ago

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) ENE of Bear Creek, AK, at 2:38 pm AKST on 5 February 2018 (23:38 UTC). 17 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Seward.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 3 km SW of Bear Creek, Alaska · 25 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 25 km WSW of Chenega, Alaska · 42 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 33 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska · 50 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NW of Chenega, Alaska · 34 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 33 km ESE of Bear Creek, Alaska · 19 km SE 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 60.2393, -149.0193. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Anchorage Municipality, AK 105 km (65 mi) N earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 30 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  2. 2.3 18 km SE of Primrose, Alaska
  3. 1.8 17 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  4. 2.1 37 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  5. 2.0 12 km NE of Moose Pass, Alaska
  6. 2.8 20 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  7. 2.0 10 km WNW of Moose Pass, Alaska
  8. 1.5 34 km E of Lowell Point, Alaska
  9. 1.8 29 km S of Whittier, Alaska
  10. 1.6 32 km WSW of Chenega, Alaska
  11. 1.7 26 km W of Chenega, Alaska
  12. 2.3 35 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  13. 1.9 16 km NE of Moose Pass, Alaska
  14. 2.1 35 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  15. 1.6 11 km ESE of Lowell Point, 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.