Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5ml
Earthquake near Anchorage, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Anchorage in the 24 hours to 2:48 am AKST (11:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 39 km (24 mi) SSW, at 4:48 pm AKDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 98 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Anchorage
This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) north-northwest of Anchorage, AK, at 12:04 am AKST on 1 December 2018 (09:04 UTC), 38 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 0 km WSW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
16 km (10 mi) NNW of Anchorage, AK
- When
- 12:04 am AKST on 1 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) north-northwest of Anchorage, AK · earthquakes near Anchorage
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 38 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Measured shaking
- intensity II (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 43 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 24 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 1184 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Anchorage, AK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Anchorage, AK. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Anchorage, 16 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: Anchorage 16 km, intensity II · Big Lake 18 km, intensity II · Eagle River 23 km, intensity II · Knik-Fairview 27 km, intensity II · Tanaina 42 km, intensity II · Willow 43 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× 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 7.1 on 2018-11-30 — about 250,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 20 km ENE of Beluga, Alaska · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 26 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 39 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 25 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 9 km E of Susitna, 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 61.3586, -149.9826. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 43 km (26 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 104 km (65 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 3 km SE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.9 0 km ENE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.2 5 km WNW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.1 3 km SE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.6 7 km WNW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.9 5 km NW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.8 9 km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.3 7 km WNW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.2 5 km W of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 3.4 6 km W of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 3.0 7 km S of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.2 6 km NW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.0 7 km S of Houston, Alaska
- 2.6 5 km NW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.5 2 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
- 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.