QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3ml

47 km N of Chase, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 47 km N of Chase, Alaska, at 3:03 pm AKDT on 17 June 2020 (23:03 UTC), 81 km deep.

· 81 km deep · released about 1.3 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Matanuska-Susitna Borough 72 kmDenali Borough 90 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 3.3 (ml)
Depth
81 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 72 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2267 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 1.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.8× more

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 4.6 on 2016-04-26 — about 89 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.7 66 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 52 km WSW of Cantwell, Alaska · 33 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 70 km WSW of Cantwell, Alaska · 36 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 48 km N of Petersville, Alaska · 35 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 54 km NE of Chase, Alaska · 23 km E 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 62.8732, -149.9733. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 72 km (45 mi) SSE earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Denali Borough, AK 90 km (56 mi) N earthquakes near Denali Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 69 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska
  2. 2.5 37 km NNE of Chase, Alaska
  3. 1.9 55 km NNE of Petersville, Alaska
  4. 1.7 71 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska
  5. 1.5 48 km N of Chase, Alaska
  6. 1.9 Central Alaska
  7. 1.5 69 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska
  8. 1.5 4 km NE of Chase, Alaska
  9. 1.7 48 km N of Chase, Alaska
  10. 1.7 69 km WSW of Cantwell, Alaska
  11. 1.6 23 km N of Chase, Alaska
  12. 1.8 76 km WSW of Cantwell, Alaska
  13. 1.6 60 km NNE of Petersville, Alaska
  14. 1.5 50 km NNE of Chase, Alaska
  15. 2.5 74 km NNE of Petersville, 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.