Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Anchorage, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Anchorage in the 24 hours to 2:29 pm AKST (23:29 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 2.9 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) north-northwest of Anchorage, AK, at 12:35 pm AKDT on 3 September 2019 (20:35 UTC), 45 km deep. 12 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 6 km NW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
22 km (14 mi) NNW of Anchorage, AK
- When
- 12:35 pm AKDT on 3 September 2019 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) north-northwest of Anchorage, AK · earthquakes near Anchorage
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 45 km below the surface
- Felt
- 12 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 49 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 18 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 2539 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Anchorage, AK
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Anchorage, 22 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Big Lake, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Eagle River, Knik-Fairview, Houston.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- 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 7.1 on 2018-11-30 — about 2,000,000 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 · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 21 km N of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 32 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 31 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 9 km E of Susitna, Alaska · 21 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 61.3950, -150.0836. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 49 km (31 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 101 km (63 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
| Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK | 167 km (103 mi) | SW | 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.
- 1.6 2 km ENE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.1 2 km SE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.5 2 km NE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.3 9 km E of Willow, Alaska
- 1.6 Southern Alaska
- 2.0 31 km ENE of Beluga, Alaska
- 1.6 22 km SW of Anchorage, Alaska
- 2.7 5 km ESE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.9 3 km SSW of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.6 11 km NNW of Hope, Alaska
- 2.1 5 km S of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.6 7 km NE of Susitna, Alaska
- 1.8 9 km W of Houston, Alaska
- 1.6 6 km SW of Susitna, Alaska
- 1.5 5 km WNW of Point MacKenzie, 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.