QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.9ml

54 km SSE of Chignik, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 54 km SSE of Chignik, Alaska at 13:34 UTC on 2018-03-04, 45 km deep.

· 45 km deep · released about 11 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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 3.9 (ml)
Depth
45 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1190 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 77 km (48 mi) from the epicentre. 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 11 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.9 about 11 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 22× 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 5.1 on 2016-08-27 — about 63 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 98 km ESE of Perryville, Alaska · 48 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 46 km S of Chignik, Alaska · 16 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 51 km SSE of Chignik, Alaska · 8 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 34 km S of Chignik, Alaska · 28 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 55.8336, -158.0886. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 42 km SSE of Chignik, Alaska
  2. 2.6 88 km SSE of Chignik, Alaska
  3. 2.8 Alaska Peninsula
  4. 2.3 40 km E of Perryville, Alaska
  5. 2.9 55 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  6. 2.1 57 km ESE of Perryville, Alaska
  7. 2.3 90 km ESE of Perryville, Alaska
  8. 3.1 69 km SE of Perryville, Alaska
  9. 2.4 Alaska Peninsula
  10. 2.0 52 km ESE of Perryville, Alaska
  11. 2.5 64 km SE of Perryville, Alaska
  12. 2.9 80 km SSE of Chignik, Alaska
  13. 3.0 59 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  14. 2.9 33 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  15. 2.6 40 km SSE of Chignik, 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.