QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Homer, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Homer in the 24 hours to 1:44 pm AKST (22:44 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 71 km (44 mi) NNE, at 2:30 am AKST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 115 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Homer

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) east of Homer, AK, at 3:55 am AKDT on 14 March 2023 (11:55 UTC), 48 km deep.

USGS: 8 km E of Halibut Cove, Alaska

3:55 am AKDT, Mar 14, 2023 · · 48 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 110 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
3:55 am AKDT on 14 March 2023 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) east of Homer, AK · earthquakes near Homer
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
48 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 110 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1331 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Homer, 27 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fritz Creek, Diamond Ridge.

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 4.7 on 2022-12-12 — about 63,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 43 km ESE of Halibut Cove, Alaska · 37 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km SSE of Fox River, Alaska · 24 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 13 km N of Fox River, Alaska · 42 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 30 km ESE of Port Graham, Alaska · 44 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 7 km SE of Fritz Creek, Alaska · 11 km NW 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 59.6020, -151.0815. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 110 km (68 mi) NW earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula 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. 1.7 7 km S of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  2. 1.7 3 km SW of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  3. 1.7 9 km E of Nikolaevsk, Alaska
  4. 1.6 21 km ESE of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  5. 1.8 14 km ESE of Ninilchik, Alaska
  6. 2.6 9 km NE of Nikolaevsk, Alaska
  7. 1.8 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
  8. 1.5 19 km S of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  9. 1.7 8 km E of Happy Valley, Alaska
  10. 2.0 8 km N of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  11. 2.3 4 km ENE of Nikolaevsk, Alaska
  12. 2.1 25 km ESE of Halibut Cove, Alaska
  13. 2.1 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
  14. 2.2 20 km NNW of Fox River, Alaska
  15. 2.6 6 km ENE of Nikolaevsk, 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.