QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2ml

92 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 92 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska, at 3:27 pm AKST on 20 December 2020 (00:27 UTC), 18 km deep.

· 18 km deep · released about 60 lb of TNT

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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 2.2 (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 2145 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 5 km (3 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 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 4.8 on 2017-06-30 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 26 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 79 km SW of False Pass, Alaska · 18 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 Unimak Island region, Alaska · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 102 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 115 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska · 32 km S of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 106 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska · 23 km SSW 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 54.1291, -164.1117. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 87 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  2. 2.1 114 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  3. 2.0 105 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  4. 2.0 114 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  5. 2.1 106 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  6. 1.8 99 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  7. 1.7 100 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  8. 2.8 118 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  9. 3.5 100 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  10. 3.2 108 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  11. 1.7 78 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  12. 1.5 103 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  13. 2.0 96 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska
  14. 1.8 116 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
  15. 1.8 Unimak Island region, 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.