QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Deltana, AK

USGS: 5 km W of Delta Junction, Alaska

3:25 pm AKDT, Mar 15, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Deltana Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fairbanks North Star Borough 77 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
3:25 pm AKDT on 15 March 2018 ()
Where
36 km (22 mi) WNW of Deltana, AK · earthquakes near Deltana
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fairbanks North Star Borough, 77 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Northern Foothills thrust fault (Northern Foothills fold and thrust belt), 19 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

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

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) WNW of Deltana, AK, at 3:25 pm AKDT on 15 March 2018 (23:25 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.2 30 km SSW of Fort Greely, Alaska · 38 km S 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 64.0328, -145.8519. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK 77 km (48 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fairbanks North Star Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 23 km ENE of Harding-Birch Lakes, Alaska
  2. 1.6 18 km NE of Fort Greely, Alaska
  3. 1.6 37 km NE of Big Delta, Alaska
  4. 1.5 8 km NE of Big Delta, Alaska
  5. 1.6 29 km WSW of Delta Junction, Alaska
  6. 1.7 9 km SSW of Fort Greely, Alaska
  7. 1.7 12 km WSW of Fort Greely, Alaska
  8. 2.3 15 km WSW of Fort Greely, Alaska
  9. 1.6 16 km NNW of Whitestone, Alaska
  10. 1.5 15 km WSW of Fort Greely, Alaska
  11. 1.6 1 km SSE of Whitestone, Alaska
  12. 2.2 46 km SW of Fort Greely, Alaska
  13. 2.6 49 km SW of Fort Greely, Alaska
  14. 2.0 5 km WSW of Fort Greely, Alaska
  15. 1.7 3 km SW of Fort Greely, 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.