QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Willow, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Willow in the 24 hours to 9:23 pm AKST (06:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 20 km (12 mi) S, at 6:17 am AKST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Willow

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northwest of Willow, AK, at 5:27 pm AKDT on 27 August 2022 (01:27 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 12 km NW of Willow, Alaska

69 km (43 mi) NNW of Anchorage, AK

5:27 pm AKDT, Aug 27, 2022 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Willow Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Matanuska-Susitna Borough 62 kmAnchorage Municipality 88 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
5:27 pm AKDT on 27 August 2022 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northwest of Willow, AK · earthquakes near Willow
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 62 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1499 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Willow, 13 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.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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 5.2 on 2018-11-30 — about 350,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 27 km SE of Skwentna, Alaska · 42 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 23 km NE of Willow, Alaska · 27 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 19 km E of Skwentna, Alaska · 45 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 27 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 29 km SSW 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 61.8226, -150.2252. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 62 km (39 mi) NE earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Anchorage Municipality, AK 88 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 33 km SSW of Trapper Creek, Alaska
  2. 3.7 13 km NNE of Houston, Alaska
  3. 1.7 Southern Alaska
  4. 1.6 11 km SSW of Susitna North, Alaska
  5. 1.5 3 km NW of Knik, Alaska
  6. 2.0 17 km S of Susitna North, Alaska
  7. 2.8 3 km NNW of Susitna North, Alaska
  8. 1.6 37 km E of Skwentna, Alaska
  9. 2.1 Central Alaska
  10. 1.8 21 km SSW of Susitna North, Alaska
  11. 1.6 5 km ENE of Houston, Alaska
  12. 1.6 3 km NW of Houston, Alaska
  13. 2.4 12 km ESE of Susitna, Alaska
  14. 1.6 10 km NE of Susitna, Alaska
  15. 1.8 7 km NW of Susitna North, 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.