Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Central Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Central Alaska at 21:21 UTC on 2023-10-16, 8.6 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Denali Borough, 84 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Denali fault, 13 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 1109 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 9 km (6 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- 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 5.3 on 2016-05-15 — about 250,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 Mount McKinley (Denali) area, Alaska · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.4 Mount McKinley (Denali) area, Alaska · 49 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.7 66 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska · 36 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 53 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska · 38 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 59 km SE of Denali National Park, Alaska · 20 km ESE 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 63.2076, -151.3303. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denali Borough, AK | 84 km (52 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Denali Borough |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 140 km (87 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
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.
- 1.5 59 km NNW of Petersville, Alaska
- 1.9 51 km SSE of Denali National Park, Alaska
- 2.3 45 km E of Denali National Park, Alaska
- 1.6 61 km N of Petersville, Alaska
- 1.6 31 km SE of Denali National Park, Alaska
- 1.7 46 km SSE of Denali National Park, Alaska
- 1.6 56 km NNW of Petersville, Alaska
- 1.5 64 km NW of Petersville, Alaska
- 1.6 54 km NNW of Petersville, Alaska
- 1.9 62 km N of Petersville, Alaska
- 3.0 62 km NNW of Petersville, Alaska
- 1.5 61 km SE of Denali National Park, Alaska
- 1.7 49 km SSE of Denali National Park, Alaska
- 1.7 64 km SE of Denali National Park, Alaska
- 1.7 Central 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.