QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Sterling, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Sterling in the 24 hours to 1:55 pm AKST (22:55 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 22 km (13 mi) NNE, at 9:11 pm AKST on 11 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Sterling

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) south-southeast of Sterling, AK, at 11:40 am AKST on 13 December 2019 (20:40 UTC), 42 km deep.

USGS: 36 km SSE of Funny River, Alaska

11:40 am AKST, Dec 13, 2019 · · 42 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Sterling Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 101 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
11:40 am AKST on 13 December 2019 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) south-southeast of Sterling, AK · earthquakes near Sterling
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
42 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 101 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2525 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 Sterling, 40 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 4.4 on 2019-01-09 — about 2,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 31 km S of Funny River, Alaska · 8 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km SSE of Fox River, Alaska · 50 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 13 km N of Fox River, Alaska · 35 km SW 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 60.2005, -150.5258. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 101 km (63 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough
Anchorage Municipality, AK 128 km (79 mi) NNE earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality

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. 1.8 21 km SE of Kasilof, Alaska
  2. 3.0 16 km ESE of Kasilof, Alaska
  3. 1.6 17 km W of Cooper Landing, Alaska
  4. 1.5 8 km ENE of Ridgeway, Alaska
  5. 1.6 20 km ESE of Funny River, Alaska
  6. 1.7 16 km ESE of Kasilof, Alaska
  7. 2.2 12 km S of Funny River, Alaska
  8. 1.6 18 km SE of Kasilof, Alaska
  9. 1.9 2 km WNW of Sterling, Alaska
  10. 1.7 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
  11. 1.9 18 km E of Clam Gulch, Alaska
  12. 2.0 32 km NNE of Fox River, Alaska
  13. 2.9 34 km SE of Kasilof, Alaska
  14. 1.6 10 km ENE of Sterling, Alaska
  15. 1.5 Kenai Peninsula, 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.