QuakeIndex

ice quake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

39 km NE of Whittier, Alaska

No: USGS classifies this as a ice quake, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.6 ice quake was recorded 39 km NE of Whittier, Alaska, 89 km (56 mi) E of Anchorage, AK, at 8:33 am AKDT on 1 September 2019 (16:33 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

89 km (56 mi) E of Anchorage, AK

· 0.0 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Anchorage Municipality 56 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Anchorage Municipality, 56 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2615 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

USGS catalogues this as ice quake, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 57 km ENE of Whittier, Alaska · 27 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 22 km ENE of Whittier, Alaska · 23 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 46 km WNW of Tatitlek, Alaska · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 27 km ENE of Whittier, Alaska · 19 km S of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 54 km WNW of Tatitlek, Alaska · 37 km E 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 61.0627, -148.2655. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Anchorage Municipality, AK 56 km (35 mi) WNW earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality
Chugach Census Area, AK 129 km (80 mi) ESE earthquakes near Chugach Census Area

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 43 km NE of Whittier, Alaska
  2. 1.6 65 km ESE of Knik River, Alaska
  3. 1.8 39 km NNE of Whittier, Alaska
  4. 1.7 40 km ENE of Girdwood, Alaska
  5. 1.7 56 km S of Glacier View, Alaska
  6. 1.7 63 km NE of Whittier, Alaska
  7. 1.5 34 km NNE of Whittier, Alaska
  8. 1.5 31 km NE of Whittier, Alaska
  9. 1.6 61 km S of Glacier View, Alaska
  10. 1.6 43 km NE of Whittier, Alaska
  11. 2.1 44 km NE of Whittier, Alaska
  12. 1.6 51 km S of Glacier View, Alaska
  13. 1.6 40 km NE of Whittier, Alaska
  14. 1.6 68 km WNW of Tatitlek, Alaska
  15. 1.5 41 km ESE of Knik River, 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.