QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

71 km S of Cantwell, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 71 km S of Cantwell, Alaska, at 7:36 pm AKST on 16 December 2019 (04:36 UTC), 56 km deep.

· 56 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Matanuska-Susitna Borough 65 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 2.6 (ml)
Depth
56 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 65 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2441 days ago

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. 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 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 4.5 on 2019-10-27 — about 710 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.6 44 km S of Cantwell, AK · 29 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 38 km SSE of Cantwell, Alaska · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 54 km NE of Chase, Alaska · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 49 km S of Cantwell, Alaska · 22 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 49 km NE of Chase, Alaska · 37 km W 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 62.7524, -148.8000. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 65 km (40 mi) SW earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Denali Borough, AK 120 km (75 mi) NNW earthquakes near Denali Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 59 km SE of Cantwell, Alaska
  2. 1.6 60 km S of Cantwell, Alaska
  3. 2.3 61 km SSE of Cantwell, Alaska
  4. 1.8 46 km ENE of Chase, Alaska
  5. 1.7 42 km ENE of Chase, Alaska
  6. 1.5 38 km SSW of Cantwell, Alaska
  7. 1.5 56 km ENE of Chase, Alaska
  8. 1.6 65 km ENE of Chase, Alaska
  9. 1.8 65 km N of Chickaloon, Alaska
  10. 1.8 48 km SSE of Cantwell, Alaska
  11. 1.7 44 km ENE of Chase, Alaska
  12. 2.3 50 km SSE of Cantwell, Alaska
  13. 1.5 78 km SSE of Cantwell, Alaska
  14. 1.5 55 km NE of Chase, Alaska
  15. 1.7 60 km S of Cantwell, 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.