QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2ml

247 km SE of Akutan, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 247 km SE of Akutan, Alaska at 00:47 UTC on 2021-08-19, 9.4 km deep.

· 9.4 km deep · released about 60 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1897 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 16 km (10 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 5.0 on 2016-10-01 — about 16,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 228 km S of False Pass, Alaska · 26 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 218 km SE of Akutan, Alaska · 39 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 223 km S of False Pass, Alaska · 34 km NNE 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 52.5835, -163.1195. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 210 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  2. 3.2 217 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  3. 2.9 221 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  4. 3.1 220 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  5. 5.3 216 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  6. 2.9 213 km S of False Pass, Alaska
  7. 3.2 253 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  8. 3.1 249 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  9. 2.8 235 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  10. 3.5 263 km S of False Pass, Alaska
  11. 2.6 219 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  12. 2.3 214 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  13. 2.4 215 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  14. 2.9 245 km S of False Pass, Alaska
  15. 2.8 216 km SE of Akutan, 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.