QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Houston, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Houston in the 24 hours to 1:41 pm AKST (22:41 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 6:17 am AKST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Houston

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Houston, AK, at 10:06 pm AKST on 1 December 2019 (07:06 UTC), 41 km deep.

USGS: 5 km ESE of Houston, Alaska

45 km (28 mi) NNE of Anchorage, AK

10:06 pm AKST, Dec 1, 2019 · · 41 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Houston Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Anchorage Municipality 55 kmMatanuska-Susitna Borough 73 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
10:06 pm AKST on 1 December 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Houston, AK · earthquakes near Houston
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
41 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Anchorage Municipality, 55 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Castle Mountain fault, 2 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 2533 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Houston, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Meadow Lakes, Knik-Fairview, Wasilla, Tanaina, Big Lake, Willow.

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 7.1 on 2018-11-30 — about 180,000,000 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. 5.9 23 km NE of Willow, Alaska · 33 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 14 km NNE of Fishhook, Alaska · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 22 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 42 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 34 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 61.6165, -149.7264. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Anchorage Municipality, AK 55 km (34 mi) SSE earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 73 km (45 mi) N earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 4 km ESE of Big Lake, Alaska
  2. 2.0 4 km SE of Big Lake, Alaska
  3. 1.6 4 km SE of Big Lake, Alaska
  4. 1.8 4 km E of Big Lake, Alaska
  5. 1.5 Southern Alaska
  6. 1.5 10 km N of Houston, Alaska
  7. 1.7 3 km ESE of Big Lake, Alaska
  8. 3.0 16 km SSW of Willow, Alaska
  9. 1.6 11 km ENE of Willow, Alaska
  10. 1.5 14 km W of Big Lake, Alaska
  11. 1.7 4 km E of Big Lake, Alaska
  12. 2.0 4 km ESE of Big Lake, Alaska
  13. 1.9 Southern Alaska
  14. 1.5 8 km W of Knik, Alaska
  15. 2.0 8 km S of Big Lake, 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.