QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Homer, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Homer in the 24 hours to 9:52 am AKST (18:52 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 71 km (44 mi) NNE, at 2:30 am AKST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 115 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Homer

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) southeast of Homer, AK, at 3:29 am AKDT on 19 August 2021 (11:29 UTC), 4.8 km deep.

USGS: 9 km S of Halibut Cove, Alaska

3:29 am AKDT, Aug 19, 2021 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 112 km
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
3:29 am AKDT on 19 August 2021 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) southeast of Homer, AK · earthquakes near Homer
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 112 km NNW
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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Homer, 22 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fritz Creek, Diamond Ridge.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4.3 on 2021-01-26 — about 11,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 43 km ESE of Halibut Cove, Alaska · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km SSE of Fox River, Alaska · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 30 km ESE of Port Graham, Alaska · 32 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 7 km SE of Fritz Creek, Alaska · 19 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 6 km WNW of Nanwalek, Alaska · 46 km WSW 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 59.5130, -151.2538. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 112 km (70 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 7 km S of Happy Valley, Alaska
  2. 2.5 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
  3. 1.9 14 km SE of Seldovia, Alaska
  4. 1.5 8 km SSW of Fox River, Alaska
  5. 1.5 21 km ENE of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  6. 1.8 17 km SE of Fox River, Alaska
  7. 1.6 11 km SSE of Fox River, Alaska
  8. 2.0 15 km NE of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  9. 1.6 30 km S of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  10. 1.5 2 km SSE of Fritz Creek, Alaska
  11. 1.6 5 km NE of Anchor Point, Alaska
  12. 1.5 1 km SSW of Nikolaevsk, Alaska
  13. 1.5 5 km E of Seldovia Village, Alaska
  14. 1.6 18 km SSE of Port Graham, Alaska
  15. 2.3 5 km NNE of Nikolaevsk, 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.