Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
121 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 121 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska at 21:05 UTC on 2020-01-07, 18 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 18 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2496 days ago
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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 109 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 11 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 152 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 36 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.4 140 km SSE of Alcan Border, Alaska · 36 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.4 136 km SSE of Alcan Border, Alaska · 48 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 136 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 29 km NE 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 61.2279, -140.6983. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 114 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.9 103 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.5 101 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.5 97 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.8 129 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.7 131 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.9 99 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.9 Southern Alaska
- 1.6 92 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.5 125 km SSE of Alcan Border, Alaska
- 2.1 114 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.9 119 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.6 111 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.0 132 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.6 134 km E of McCarthy, 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.