Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
5 km S of Big Lake, AK
Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km S of Big Lake, AK, 29 km (18 mi) N of Anchorage, AK, at 4:40 am AKST on 12 January 2019 (13:40 UTC), 34 km deep.
29 km (18 mi) N of Anchorage, AK
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 34 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 49 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 13 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 2849 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Lake, AK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Lake, AK. No account or email needed.
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 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. 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, Houston, Knik-Fairview, Meadow Lakes, Eagle River, Anchorage.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 in our catalogue was M 7.1 on 2018-11-30 — about 63,000,000 times the energy of this one.
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 61.4740, -149.9484. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 49 km (30 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 91 km (57 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna 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.
- 1.9 9 km SW of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.6 2 km NE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.8 7 km NNW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.2 4 km NW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.7 6 km WSW of Knik, Alaska
- 3.7 7 km WSW of Knik, Alaska
- 1.8 6 km E of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 2.0 2 km ESE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.8 Southern Alaska
- 1.6 4 km S of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.7 3 km SSE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.5 4 km NE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.5 4 km WNW of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.6 9 km SW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.5 6 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
- 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.