QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

6 km SSW of Atka, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km SSW of Atka, Alaska at 08:53 UTC on 2019-11-17, 10 km deep.

· 10 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2535 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 5 km (3 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.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.0 on 2016-11-23 — about 130,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 25 km NW of Atka, Alaska · 28 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 37 km WNW of Atka, Alaska · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 43 km S of Atka, Alaska · 37 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 51 km SSE of Atka, Alaska · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 52 km SE of Atka, Alaska · 48 km SE 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 52.1387, -174.2223. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 17 km NW of Atka, Alaska
  2. 1.6 42 km WSW of Atka, Alaska
  3. 1.6 46 km SW of Atka, Alaska
  4. 1.9 42 km WSW of Atka, Alaska
  5. 3.1 30 km W of Atka, Alaska
  6. 2.8 32 km ESE of Atka, Alaska
  7. 1.7 31 km SW of Atka, Alaska
  8. 3.8 24 km SE of Atka, Alaska
  9. 1.6 32 km WSW of Atka, Alaska
  10. 2.3 22 km NNW of Atka, Alaska
  11. 2.1 22 km N of Atka, Alaska
  12. 2.6 33 km S of Atka, Alaska
  13. 1.9 36 km SSE of Atka, Alaska
  14. 3.0 38 km NNW of Atka, Alaska
  15. 1.8 11 km N of Atka, 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.