Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.2ml
Earthquake near Tok, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Tok in the 24 hours to 12:54 pm AKST (21:54 UTC). The last one was M 7.0, 382 km (237 mi) SSE, at 11:41 am AKST on 6 December 2025, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,058 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tok
This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) west-southwest of Tok, AK, at 12:04 am AKDT on 17 May 2021 (08:04 UTC), 1.6 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 15 km S of Tanacross, Alaska
- When
- 12:04 am AKDT on 17 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) west-southwest of Tok, AK · earthquakes near Tok
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, 69 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Cathedral Rapids faults (Northern Foothills fold and thrust belt), 5 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1990 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tok, AK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Tok, 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 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Tok, 21 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
- 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 4.2 on 2020-10-26 — about 1,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.1 3 km ENE of Mentasta Lake, Alaska · 39 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 17 km ESE of Mentasta Lake, Alaska · 44 km S of this epicentre
- 5.0 16 km WNW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska · 45 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 63.2480, -143.3657. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AK | 69 km (43 mi) | N | earthquakes near Southeast Fairbanks Census Area |
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.
- 1.8 16 km SSE of Tok, Alaska
- 1.7 20 km W of Tetlin, Alaska
- 1.3 17 km SSE of Tok, Alaska
- 1.5 31 km SW of Tetlin, Alaska
- 1.1 19 km SE of Dot Lake Village, Alaska
- 1.4 20 km S of Tok, Alaska
- 2.3 13 km SE of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
- 3.1 13 km N of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
- 1.5 19 km S of Tok, Alaska
- 1.5 19 km W of Tetlin, Alaska
- 1.5 14 km SE of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
- 2.0 29 km SW of Tetlin, Alaska
- 2.1 29 km SW of Tetlin, Alaska
- 1.7 26 km SSW of Tanacross, Alaska
- 2.2 22 km SW of Tanacross, 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.