QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

Earthquake near Willow, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Willow in the 24 hours to 4:09 am AKST (13:09 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 20 km (12 mi) S, at 6:17 am AKST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Willow

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) west of Willow, AK, at 6:54 am AKDT on 15 April 2019 (14:54 UTC), 48 km deep.

USGS: 22 km NNW of Susitna, Alaska

70 km (44 mi) NW of Anchorage, AK

6:54 am AKDT, Apr 15, 2019 · · 48 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Matanuska-Susitna Borough 84 kmAnchorage Municipality 96 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
6:54 am AKDT on 15 April 2019 ()
Where
33 km (20 mi) west of Willow, AK · earthquakes near Willow
Magnitude
M 2.9 (ml)
Depth
48 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity II (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 84 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2703 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Willow, 33 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.

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 4.5 on 2019-01-23 — about 250 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 27 km SE of Skwentna, Alaska · 21 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 27 km N of Beluga, Alaska · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 19 km E of Skwentna, Alaska · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 33 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 17 km SSE 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 61.7362, -150.6549. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 84 km (52 mi) NE earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Anchorage Municipality, AK 96 km (60 mi) SE earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 32 km E of Skwentna, Alaska
  2. 1.7 8 km NW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
  3. 1.9 26 km NNW of Susitna, Alaska
  4. 2.2 17 km W of Willow, Alaska
  5. 1.6 14 km SW of Willow, Alaska
  6. 1.5 22 km SSW of Trapper Creek, Alaska
  7. 1.7 26 km ESE of Skwentna, Alaska
  8. 1.7 34 km SSW of Trapper Creek, Alaska
  9. 1.7 34 km ENE of Skwentna, Alaska
  10. 1.6 31 km WNW of Susitna, Alaska
  11. 2.4 27 km SSW of Trapper Creek, Alaska
  12. 1.5 36 km E of Skwentna, Alaska
  13. 1.5 20 km W of Susitna, Alaska
  14. 1.5 7 km WNW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
  15. 2.1 34 km SSE of Skwentna, 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.