QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

55 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 55 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska, at 9:02 pm AKST on 12 January 2018 (06:02 UTC), 89 km deep.

· 89 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 79 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
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
89 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 79 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1189 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 7.1 on 2016-01-24 — about 45,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 25 km NW of Nanwalek, Alaska · 37 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 52 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska · 30 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 53 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska · 11 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 66 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska · 38 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 Southern Alaska · 31 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 59.7024, -152.8086. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 79 km (49 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula 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. 1.8 49 km WNW of Happy Valley, Alaska
  2. 2.4 41 km WSW of Anchor Point, Alaska
  3. 2.3 Southern Alaska
  4. 1.8 54 km WNW of Happy Valley, Alaska
  5. 2.0 63 km WSW of Anchor Point, Alaska
  6. 1.9 64 km WNW of Happy Valley, Alaska
  7. 1.7 55 km WNW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  8. 1.8 62 km WNW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  9. 2.3 61 km ENE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  10. 1.8 47 km W of Happy Valley, Alaska
  11. 1.8 57 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  12. 1.8 63 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  13. 2.3 62 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska
  14. 1.9 54 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  15. 1.8 60 km ESE of Pedro Bay, 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.