QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

155 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 155 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska at 06:58 UTC on 2023-09-15, 9.8 km deep.

· 9.8 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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 2.0 (ml)
Depth
9.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1143 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. 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 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 5.1 on 2022-09-20 — about 45,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 7.0 113 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska · 47 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.9 143 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska · 18 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.9 171 km SW of Akhiok, Alaska · 20 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 132 km E of Chignik, Alaska · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 118 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska · 37 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 55.8788, -156.0190. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 151 km SW of Akhiok, Alaska
  2. 2.7 147 km SSW of Akhiok, Alaska
  3. 2.2 129 km SW of Akhiok, Alaska
  4. 2.8 134 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  5. 2.3 134 km E of Chignik, Alaska
  6. 3.1 121 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  7. 2.9 149 km SW of Akhiok, Alaska
  8. 2.7 126 km SW of Akhiok, Alaska
  9. 2.8 156 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  10. 2.6 146 km SW of Akhiok, Alaska
  11. 1.8 149 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  12. 1.8 159 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  13. 3.0 147 km SW of Akhiok, Alaska
  14. 3.3 165 km ESE of Chignik, Alaska
  15. 2.5 149 km SW of Akhiok, 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.