QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Seward, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Seward in the 24 hours to 12:18 pm AKST (21:18 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 83 km (52 mi) W, at 2:30 am AKST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 115 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seward

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Seward, AK, at 3:03 pm AKST on 23 December 2022 (00:03 UTC), 9.5 km deep.

USGS: Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

3:03 pm AKST, Dec 23, 2022 · · 9.5 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

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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
3:03 pm AKST on 23 December 2022 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) southeast of Seward, AK · earthquakes near Seward
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1396 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Seward, 23 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: Bear Creek.

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 4.4 on 2022-07-12 — about 16,000 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. 6.6 3 km SW of Bear Creek, Alaska · 26 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 37 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska · 24 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 25 km WSW of Chenega, Alaska · 39 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 54 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 33 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska · 18 km S 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 59.9596, -149.1476. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 56 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  2. 1.8 62 km S of Lowell Point, Alaska
  3. 1.6 18 km SSW of Lowell Point, Alaska
  4. 1.9 48 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  5. 1.8 22 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  6. 1.8 40 km WNW of Chenega, Alaska
  7. 1.6 11 km W of Seward, Alaska
  8. 1.7 20 km E of Lowell Point, Alaska
  9. 1.5 12 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  10. 1.8 17 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  11. 1.8 23 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  12. 2.0 20 km SW of Lowell Point, Alaska
  13. 1.5 6 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  14. 1.9 16 km SW of Lowell Point, Alaska
  15. 1.6 23 km ESE of Lowell Point, 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.