QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

43 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska

· 10 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Southeast Fairbanks Census Area 94 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
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, 94 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Denali fault, 9 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 1252 days ago

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 43 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska at 19:29 UTC on 2023-02-21. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.9 44 km WNW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska · 9 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 45 km WNW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska · 20 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 36 km NE of Paxson, Alaska · 39 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 32 km SW of Dry Creek, Alaska · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 41 km ENE of Paxson, Alaska · 22 km W 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 63.1965, -144.3761. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AK 94 km (58 mi) NE earthquakes near Southeast Fairbanks Census Area

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 44 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  2. 1.7 45 km S of Dry Creek, Alaska
  3. 2.0 35 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  4. 1.5 39 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  5. 2.1 35 km SSW of Dry Creek, Alaska
  6. 1.6 31 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  7. 2.4 37 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  8. 1.5 40 km WNW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  9. 1.8 43 km WNW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  10. 1.9 33 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  11. 1.9 31 km WNW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  12. 1.7 48 km WNW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  13. 1.8 44 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  14. 1.5 43 km NW of Mentasta Lake, Alaska
  15. 1.5 38 km NW of Mentasta Lake, 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.