QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

52 km S of Chiniak, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 52 km S of Chiniak, Alaska, at 1:17 pm AKDT on 13 March 2020 (21:17 UTC), 12 km deep.

· 12 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kodiak Island Borough 111 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 1.7 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kodiak Island Borough, 111 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2408 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 4 km (2 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 5.4 on 2017-05-11 — about 350,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 53 km ESE of Old Harbor, Alaska · 13 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 25 km E of Old Harbor, Alaska · 31 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 56 km SE of Old Harbor, Alaska · 44 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 55 km SE of Chiniak, Alaska · 49 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 73 km SE of Old Harbor, Alaska · 48 km S 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 57.1426, -152.3789. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kodiak Island Borough, AK 111 km (69 mi) NW earthquakes near Kodiak Island Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 17 km S of Womens Bay, Alaska
  2. 2.1 13 km ESE of Chiniak, Alaska
  3. 1.5 16 km SSE of Womens Bay, Alaska
  4. 2.0 51 km S of Chiniak, Alaska
  5. 2.0 38 km E of Old Harbor, Alaska
  6. 1.9 Kodiak Island region, Alaska
  7. 1.9 33 km NE of Old Harbor, Alaska
  8. 1.6 23 km SSW of Womens Bay, Alaska
  9. 2.2 41 km SE of Old Harbor, Alaska
  10. 2.4 64 km SE of Old Harbor, Alaska
  11. 2.4 73 km SE of Old Harbor, Alaska
  12. 1.9 36 km E of Old Harbor, Alaska
  13. 1.6 16 km SSE of Chiniak, Alaska
  14. 2.0 54 km SSE of Old Harbor, Alaska
  15. 2.0 75 km SE of Old Harbor, 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.