Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Palmer, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Palmer in the 24 hours to 3:28 am AKST (12:28 UTC). The last one was M 4.4, 114 km (71 mi) ENE, at 11:11 am AKDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 54 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Palmer
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 49 km (31 mi) northeast of Palmer, AK, at 12:17 pm AKDT on 15 June 2023 (20:17 UTC), 4.0 km deep.
USGS: 11 km N of Chickaloon, Alaska
- When
- 12:17 pm AKDT on 15 June 2023 ()
- Where
- 49 km (31 mi) northeast of Palmer, AK · earthquakes near Palmer
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 70 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 3 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 1243 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Palmer, AK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Palmer, AK. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Palmer, 49 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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 4.6 on 2018-01-27 — about 45,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 15 km N of Glacier View, Alaska · 38 km E of this epicentre
- 5.8 14 km NNE of Fishhook, Alaska · 36 km W of this epicentre
- 5.3 55 km NNE of Chickaloon, Alaska · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km N of Chickaloon, Alaska · 7 km SSW 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 61.8970, -148.4212. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 70 km (43 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 92 km (57 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 13 km SSW of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.5 48 km NNW of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 2.0 0 km N of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.6 36 km N of Sutton-Alpine, Alaska
- 1.6 20 km SE of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.5 52 km NNE of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.8 42 km NNW of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.6 6 km SSE of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 2.2 36 km NNE of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.5 46 km E of Susitna North, Alaska
- 1.8 20 km SE of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.7 Central Alaska
- 1.8 24 km N of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 1.5 46 km N of Chickaloon, Alaska
- 3.7 21 km WNW of Glacier View, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.