QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Seward, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Seward in the 24 hours to 1:56 pm AKST (22:56 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) southeast of Seward, AK, at 5:14 am AKST on 3 January 2023 (14:14 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 18 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska

5:14 am AKST, Jan 3, 2023 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 11 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
5:14 am AKST on 3 January 2023 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) southeast of Seward, AK · earthquakes near Seward
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1394 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Seward, 21 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 3 km SW of Bear Creek, Alaska · 23 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 37 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska · 28 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 · 39 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 33 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska · 22 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 60.0012, -149.1365. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 18 km SSW of Lowell Point, Alaska
  2. 1.9 48 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  3. 1.8 22 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  4. 1.8 40 km WNW of Chenega, Alaska
  5. 1.6 11 km W of Seward, Alaska
  6. 1.7 20 km E of Lowell Point, Alaska
  7. 1.5 12 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  8. 1.8 17 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  9. 1.8 23 km SE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  10. 2.0 20 km SW of Lowell Point, Alaska
  11. 1.5 6 km SSE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  12. 1.9 16 km SW of Lowell Point, Alaska
  13. 1.6 23 km ESE of Lowell Point, Alaska
  14. 1.5 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
  15. 2.5 38 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.