Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5ml
Earthquake near Houston, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Houston in the 24 hours to 11:49 pm AKST (08:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 6:17 am AKST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Houston
This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Houston, AK, at 2:46 pm AKDT on 19 October 2022 (22:46 UTC), 19 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 6 km NW of Houston, Alaska
50 km (31 mi) N of Anchorage, AK
- When
- 2:46 pm AKDT on 19 October 2022 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Houston, AK · earthquakes near Houston
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 19 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 64 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 4 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1412 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Houston, AK
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 61 km (38 mi) from the epicentre. In Houston, 6 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: Willow 11 km, intensity III · Big Lake 16 km, intensity III · Knik-Fairview 24 km, intensity II · Tanaina 26 km, intensity II · Fishhook 37 km, intensity II · Eagle River 42 km, intensity II · Palmer 43 km, intensity II · Butte 48 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× 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 7.1 on 2018-11-30 — about 250,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 23 km NE of Willow, Alaska · 28 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 14 km NNE of Fishhook, Alaska · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 15 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 33 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 43 km SSE 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 61.6663, -149.9104. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 64 km (40 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 70 km (43 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 3 km NNW of Houston, Alaska
- 3.3 2 km NNW of Houston, Alaska
- 2.7 11 km N of Meadow Lakes, Alaska
- 2.1 13 km N of Meadow Lakes, Alaska
- 2.0 13 km N of Meadow Lakes, Alaska
- 4.3 11 km N of Meadow Lakes, Alaska
- 1.5 21 km W of Willow, Alaska
- 4.0 10 km N of Meadow Lakes, Alaska
- 2.2 9 km WSW of Knik, Alaska
- 2.0 4 km NW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska
- 1.9 13 km W of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.9 13 km WNW of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.6 12 km W of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.7 12 km W of Point MacKenzie, Alaska
- 1.6 11 km W of Point MacKenzie, 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
- 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.