Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Sterling, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Sterling in the 24 hours to 3:52 am AKST (12:52 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 47 km (29 mi) south-southeast of Sterling, AK, at 1:33 pm AKST on 21 January 2020 (22:33 UTC), 29 km deep.
USGS: 37 km NE of Fox River, Alaska
- When
- 1:33 pm AKST on 21 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) south-southeast of Sterling, AK · earthquakes near Sterling
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 29 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, 102 km WNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2465 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sterling, AK
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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 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. In Sterling, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 31 km S of Funny River, Alaska · 13 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km SSE of Fox River, Alaska · 42 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.9 13 km N of Fox River, Alaska · 29 km SW 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 60.1261, -150.5421. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK | 102 km (63 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough |
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 135 km (84 mi) | NNE | 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.
- 1.9 42 km SSE of Funny River, Alaska
- 2.1 23 km SSW of Funny River, Alaska
- 1.7 18 km ESE of Clam Gulch, Alaska
- 1.8 18 km SE of Kasilof, Alaska
- 2.9 34 km NNE of Fox River, Alaska
- 1.7 33 km SSE of Funny River, Alaska
- 1.5 24 km ESE of Clam Gulch, Alaska
- 1.6 18 km SSE of Funny River, Alaska
- 1.5 19 km ESE of Kasilof, Alaska
- 1.5 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
- 2.1 2 km WSW of Sterling, Alaska
- 1.7 0 km N of Funny River, Alaska
- 2.4 18 km ESE of Fox River, Alaska
- 1.6 42 km ESE of Fox River, Alaska
- 1.6 13 km S 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
- 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.