QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Sand Point, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Sand Point in the 24 hours to 7:59 am AKST (16:59 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 99 km (61 mi) SE, at 10:44 pm AKDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Sand Point

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) east of Sand Point, AK, at 6:44 pm AKDT on 16 May 2023 (02:44 UTC), 4.7 km deep.

USGS: 43 km E of Sand Point, Alaska

6:44 pm AKDT, May 16, 2023 · · 4.7 km deep · released about 21 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
6:44 pm AKDT on 16 May 2023 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) east of Sand Point, AK · earthquakes near Sand Point
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
4.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1274 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Sand Point, 43 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 5.9 on 2020-10-06 — about 1,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.4 54 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 31 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.9 17 km S of Sand Point, Alaska · 42 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 72 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 41 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 68 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 54 km E of Sand Point, Alaska · 12 km ENE 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 55.2746, -159.8256. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 46 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  2. 2.0 64 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  3. 2.0 70 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  4. 3.1 49 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  5. 2.5 62 km S of Ivanof Bay, Alaska
  6. 3.5 77 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska
  7. 2.2 54 km E of Sand Point, Alaska
  8. 1.9 34 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
  9. 2.1 48 km S of Ivanof Bay, Alaska
  10. 2.0 57 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
  11. 1.6 66 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska
  12. 1.8 70 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  13. 1.7 80 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska
  14. 1.6 47 km S of Ivanof Bay, Alaska
  15. 1.9 74 km ESE of Sand 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.