QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.4mb

46 km W of Tyonek, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 4.4 earthquake was recorded 46 km W of Tyonek, Alaska, at 8:16 pm AKDT on 7 May 2022 (04:16 UTC), 95 km deep. 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 95 km deep · released about 60 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 73 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
Magnitude
M 4.4 (mb)
Depth
95 km below the surface
Felt
9 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Tsunami
USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 73 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1575 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 89 km (55 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 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,800× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.4 about 60 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 130× more

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 5.2 on 2017-05-30 — about 16 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 Southern Alaska · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 6 km WNW of Nikiski, Alaska · 45 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Southern Alaska · 29 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 17 km NW of Beluga, Alaska · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 19 km NNW of Nikiski, Alaska · 37 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 61.0005, -151.9791. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 73 km (45 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 29 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  2. 1.6 33 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  3. 1.5 63 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  4. 2.0 66 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  5. 1.5 41 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  6. 2.4 18 km W of Nikiski, Alaska
  7. 1.5 30 km W of Salamatof, Alaska
  8. 1.5 25 km WNW of Tyonek, Alaska
  9. 1.7 21 km WNW of Salamatof, Alaska
  10. 1.7 67 km WNW of Nikiski, Alaska
  11. 1.5 47 km W of Salamatof, Alaska
  12. 1.7 59 km WNW of Tyonek, Alaska
  13. 1.6 55 km W of Nikiski, Alaska
  14. 1.5 67 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  15. 1.6 27 km NW of Nikiski, 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.