QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

116 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 116 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska at 16:17 UTC on 2020-01-11, 45 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 45 km deep · released about 680 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 2.9 (ml)
Depth
45 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2415 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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 4.5 on 2017-03-28 — about 250 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.0 113 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska · 24 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.9 143 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska · 31 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 128 km SE of Chignik, Alaska · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 77 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska · 39 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.3 112 km E of Chignik, Alaska · 18 km N 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 56.0271, -156.5828. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 137 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  2. 3.3 113 km SE of Chignik, Alaska
  3. 3.7 137 km SE of Chignik, Alaska
  4. 3.1 131 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  5. 4.1 113 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  6. 5.7 99 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  7. 2.2 122 km E of Chignik, Alaska
  8. 1.9 118 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  9. 2.2 114 km E of Chignik, Alaska
  10. 2.1 88 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  11. 2.5 110 km E of Chignik, Alaska
  12. 2.8 107 km SE of Chignik, Alaska
  13. 2.6 132 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  14. 2.4 139 km E of Chignik, Alaska
  15. 2.7 114 km E of Chignik, 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.