QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near King Cove, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in King Cove in the 24 hours to 2:43 pm AKST (23:43 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 171 km (106 mi) SSW, at 12:14 pm AKDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near King Cove

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) southwest of King Cove, AK, at 11:10 am AKST on 5 February 2023 (20:10 UTC), 6.6 km deep.

USGS: 37 km E of False Pass, Alaska

11:10 am AKST, Feb 5, 2023 · · 6.6 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near King Cove Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aleutians East Borough 72 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
11:10 am AKST on 5 February 2023 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) southwest of King Cove, AK · earthquakes near King Cove
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
6.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aleutians East Borough, 72 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1366 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In King Cove, 43 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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 4.6 on 2018-07-02 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.5 47 km SE of False Pass, Alaska · 28 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 14 km NNE of False Pass, Alaska · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 60 km SSW of King Cove, Alaska · 35 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 54.8140, -162.8352. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aleutians East Borough, AK 72 km (45 mi) NE earthquakes near Aleutians East Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 44 km SE of False Pass, Alaska
  2. 2.0 46 km ESE of False Pass, Alaska
  3. 1.8 Alaska Peninsula
  4. 1.6 53 km S of King Cove, Alaska
  5. 1.6 56 km SSW of King Cove, Alaska
  6. 1.8 26 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  7. 1.7 57 km S of King Cove, Alaska
  8. 1.6 56 km SSW of King Cove, Alaska
  9. 2.2 44 km SE of False Pass, Alaska
  10. 2.6 33 km SSW of Cold Bay, Alaska
  11. 2.2 52 km SE of False Pass, Alaska
  12. 3.1 47 km ESE of False Pass, Alaska
  13. 1.8 26 km S of King Cove, Alaska
  14. 1.8 51 km S of King Cove, Alaska
  15. 2.7 44 km SSW of King Cove, 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.