QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Sterling, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Sterling in the 24 hours to 1:27 am AKST (10:27 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Sterling, AK, at 9:21 am AKDT on 10 August 2020 (17:21 UTC), 9.9 km deep.

USGS: 7 km ENE of Sterling, Alaska

84 km (52 mi) SSW of Anchorage, AK

9:21 am AKDT, Aug 10, 2020 · · 9.9 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Sterling Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 95 kmAnchorage Municipality 100 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
9:21 am AKDT on 10 August 2020 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Sterling, AK · earthquakes near Sterling
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
9.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 95 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2269 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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Sterling, 8 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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: Funny River, Soldotna, Ridgeway.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 22,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 24 km ENE of Sterling, Alaska · 17 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 6 km WNW of Nikiski, Alaska · 45 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 19 km SSE of Tyonek, Alaska · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 31 km S of Funny River, Alaska · 37 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 19 km NE of Nikiski, Alaska · 36 km NW 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 60.5554, -150.6289. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 95 km (59 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough
Anchorage Municipality, AK 100 km (62 mi) NE earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 17 km S of Tyonek, Alaska
  2. 1.8 11 km N of Ridgeway, Alaska
  3. 1.6 22 km WNW of Cooper Landing, Alaska
  4. 1.6 9 km NE of Nikiski, Alaska
  5. 1.8 5 km SE of Soldotna, Alaska
  6. 2.1 11 km NNE of Ridgeway, Alaska
  7. 1.7 15 km SW of Point Possession, Alaska
  8. 1.7 7 km E of Soldotna, Alaska
  9. 2.5 6 km WSW of Funny River, Alaska
  10. 1.8 17 km SE of Kasilof, Alaska
  11. 1.6 10 km SE of Point Possession, AK
  12. 3.0 11 km ENE of Sterling, AK
  13. 1.6 20 km WNW of Cooper Landing, Alaska
  14. 1.9 10 km ESE of Nikiski, Alaska
  15. 1.5 2 km WSW of Funny River, 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.