QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Knik-Fairview, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Knik-Fairview in the 24 hours to 12:59 am AKST (09:59 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 7 km (4 mi) NW, at 8:17 am AKST on 11 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Knik-Fairview

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) southeast of Knik-Fairview, AK, at 9:16 am AKDT on 12 October 2018 (17:16 UTC), 37 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 12 km SE of Knik-Fairview, Alaska

34 km (21 mi) NE of Anchorage, AK

9:16 am AKDT, Oct 12, 2018 · · 37 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Knik-Fairview Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Anchorage Municipality 30 kmMatanuska-Susitna Borough 93 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
9:16 am AKDT on 12 October 2018 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) southeast of Knik-Fairview, AK · earthquakes near Knik-Fairview
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
37 km below the surface
Felt
8 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity II (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Anchorage Municipality, 30 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1185 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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Knik-Fairview, 13 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Eagle River, Wasilla, Gateway, Lakes, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Tanaina.

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 4.1 on 2018-03-30 — about 45 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 12 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 9 km E of Susitna, Alaska · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 3 km NNE of Houston, Alaska · 31 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 8 km NW of Knik-Fairview, Alaska · 21 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 61.4299, -149.4374. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Anchorage Municipality, AK 30 km (18 mi) SSE earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 93 km (58 mi) N earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna 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. 2.9 5 km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska
  2. 3.8 5 km SSW of Houston, Alaska
  3. 3.4 4 km SE of Big Lake, Alaska
  4. 2.8 5 km W of Knik, Alaska
  5. 3.1 2 km ESE of Big Lake, Alaska
  6. 3.4 9 km NNE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
  7. 3.8 6 km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska
  8. 5.2 6 km S of Big Lake, Alaska
  9. 3.7 2 km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska
  10. 3.6 5 km NNE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
  11. 2.3 3 km S of Big Lake, Alaska
  12. 3.2 2 km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska
  13. 3.2 1 km E of Big Lake, Alaska
  14. 3.4 8 km NNE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
  15. 3.7 5 km S of Big Lake, 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.