Earthquake near Fishhook, AK

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 31 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Fishhook, 17 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.

Likely felt in: Fishhook 17 km, intensity II · Tanaina 21 km, intensity II · Willow 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 4.3 on 2017-08-21 — about 130 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 5.9 23 km NE of Willow, Alaska · 15 km NW of this epicentre Jan 1, 1975
2. 5.8 14 km NNE of Fishhook, Alaska · 23 km ENE of this epicentre Aug 14, 1984
3. 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 41 km SW of this epicentre Oct 7, 1966
4. 5.4 25 km NNW of Willow, Alaska · 36 km WNW of this epicentre May 10, 1962
5. 5.3 3 km NNE of Houston, Alaska · 21 km SW of this epicentre Sep 1, 1966

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 61.8133, -149.5292. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.8 23 km NNE of Willow, Alaska 02:14 UTC
2. 2.2 7 km SW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska 09:28 UTC
3. 1.5 39 km E of Susitna North, Alaska 12:38 UTC
4. 1.8 4 km S of Houston, Alaska 07:20 UTC
5. 2.2 19 km ESE of Susitna North, Alaska 15:51 UTC
6. 1.7 15 km NNW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska 21:29 UTC
7. 4.2 8 km ESE of Susitna North, Alaska 16:56 UTC
8. 1.7 27 km NNW of Fishhook, Alaska 23:30 UTC
9. 1.5 9 km NNW of Big Lake, Alaska 08:00 UTC
10. 1.6 18 km NE of Willow, Alaska 08:11 UTC
11. 1.8 19 km N of Meadow Lakes, Alaska 09:23 UTC
12. 1.6 1 km NNE of Meadow Lakes, Alaska 20:42 UTC
13. 1.6 14 km NNE of Willow, Alaska 04:43 UTC
14. 1.5 5 km SSE of Big Lake, Alaska 18:28 UTC
15. 1.6 0 km NNE of Meadow Lakes, Alaska 09:56 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 08:59 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.