Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
11 km ENE of Sterling, AK
Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 11 km ENE of Sterling, AK, 80 km (50 mi) SSW of Anchorage, AK, at 6:15 pm AKST on 3 November 2020 (03:15 UTC), 40 km deep.
80 km (50 mi) SSW of Anchorage, AK
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 40 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Measured shaking
- intensity II (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 97 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2119 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sterling, AK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Sterling, 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 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sterling, Funny River, Ridgeway, Soldotna.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 4.4 on 2019-01-09 — about 130 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 60.5811, -150.5928. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 97 km (60 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK | 98 km (61 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 28 km S of Funny River, Alaska
- 1.8 26 km ESE of Point Possession, Alaska
- 1.7 24 km ESE of Point Possession, Alaska
- 1.9 9 km NW of Point Possession, Alaska
- 1.6 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
- 1.6 14 km E of Kasilof, Alaska
- 1.5 25 km SE of Funny River, Alaska
- 1.5 17 km SE of Kasilof, Alaska
- 1.9 10 km NE of Point Possession, Alaska
- 1.8 9 km S of Funny River, Alaska
- 1.8 8 km NE of Ridgeway, Alaska
- 2.3 18 km ESE of Kasilof, Alaska
- 2.3 14 km W of Point Possession, Alaska
- 1.8 21 km N of Sterling, Alaska
- 1.5 8 km N of Ridgeway, 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.