Earthquake near Bear Creek, AK

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 126 km (78 mi) from the epicentre. In Bear Creek, 33 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Seward 40 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.

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

1. 6.6 3 km SW of Bear Creek, Alaska · 36 km SW of this epicentre Sep 27, 1949
2. 5.8 29 km NW of Chenega, Alaska · 37 km ESE of this epicentre Jul 25, 1937
3. 5.8 33 km ESE of Bear Creek, Alaska · 34 km SSE of this epicentre Mar 28, 1964
4. 5.7 13 km S of Girdwood, Alaska · 49 km N of this epicentre Feb 19, 1928
5. 5.6 17 km W of Whittier, Alaska · 40 km N of this epicentre Jan 27, 1931

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 60.3895, -149.0133. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska 11:58 UTC
2. 1.6 20 km W of Whittier, Alaska 04:48 UTC
3. 2.4 17 km E of Moose Pass, Alaska 20:17 UTC
4. 1.5 22 km NE of Moose Pass, Alaska 13:47 UTC
5. 1.5 25 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska 04:28 UTC
6. 2.8 19 km ENE of Primrose, Alaska 06:46 UTC
7. 1.7 4 km W of Primrose, Alaska 06:03 UTC
8. 1.5 23 km SSE of Whittier, Alaska 03:24 UTC
9. 1.5 22 km S of Sunrise, Alaska 00:49 UTC
10. 2.0 17 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska 15:17 UTC
11. 1.5 25 km NNE of Moose Pass, Alaska 02:52 UTC
12. 1.5 23 km NNE of Moose Pass, Alaska 09:12 UTC
13. 1.7 21 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska 10:06 UTC
14. 1.7 7 km W of Moose Pass, Alaska 12:06 UTC
15. 1.7 1 km WSW of Primrose, Alaska 05:20 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 11:47 UTC. 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.