QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

52 km W of Nanwalek, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 52 km W of Nanwalek, Alaska, at 7:51 am AKDT on 23 May 2019 (15:51 UTC), 76 km deep.

· 76 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 106 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 3.2 (ml)
Depth
76 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 106 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2649 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. 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 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 2016-01-24 — about 710,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 25 km NW of Nanwalek, Alaska · 32 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 61 km WSW of Nanwalek, Alaska · 35 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 53 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska · 40 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 Southern Alaska · 4 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 63 km WSW of Nanwalek, Alaska · 41 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 59.4448, -152.8314. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 106 km (66 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

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

  1. 1.8 28 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska
  2. 2.5 52 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  3. 1.5 62 km ESE of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  4. 1.6 46 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  5. 2.1 63 km WSW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  6. 1.5 62 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  7. 1.6 54 km WNW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  8. 1.5 47 km SW of Nanwalek, Alaska
  9. 1.6 58 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  10. 1.7 44 km E of Pedro Bay, Alaska
  11. 3.1 64 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska
  12. 1.8 62 km W of Anchor Point, Alaska
  13. 2.4 23 km WNW of Nanwalek, AK
  14. 1.7 51 km W of Nanwalek, Alaska
  15. 1.6 48 km E 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.