Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.5ml
131 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 131 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska at 16:53 UTC on 2021-05-20, less than 1 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Yakutat City and Borough, 72 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Chaix Hills fault (Chugach-St. Elias 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
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 10 km (6 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 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 4.8 on 2019-03-11 — about 89,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.1 113 km SE of McCarthy, Alaska · 47 km N of this epicentre
- 5.9 115 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 20 km E of this epicentre
- 5.7 126 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 45 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.6 102 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 36 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 112 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 19 km ESE 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 60.2188, -141.6533. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakutat City and Borough, AK | 72 km (45 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Yakutat City and Borough |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 103 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.5 117 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.5 100 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.6 115 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.1 Southern Alaska
- 1.5 108 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.5 111 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.7 104 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.5 111 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.5 113 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.6 129 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.6 116 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.7 129 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.7 108 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.5 117 km WNW of Yakutat, 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.