QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Badger, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Badger in the 24 hours to 1:25 am AKST (10:25 UTC). The last one was M 5.6, 258 km (160 mi) WSW, at 3:07 am AKDT on 15 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 107 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Badger

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Badger, AK, at 10:09 pm AKST on 30 December 2023 (07:09 UTC), 3.5 km deep.

USGS: 2 km NNE of Badger, Alaska

10:09 pm AKST, Dec 30, 2023 · · 3.5 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Badger Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fairbanks North Star Borough 51 km
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
10:09 pm AKST on 30 December 2023 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Badger, AK · earthquakes near Badger
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
3.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fairbanks North Star Borough, 51 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Atsaksovluk fault, 24 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 1028 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. In Badger, 3 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: Fairbanks, North Pole, Farmers Loop, College, Ester, Eielson Air Force Base.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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 4.0 on 2022-11-17 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 Central Alaska · 39 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 15 km SSW of Badger, Alaska · 18 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 3 km ESE of Farmers Loop, Alaska · 11 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 10 km SSW of Badger, Alaska · 14 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 6 km NW of Farmers Loop, Alaska · 20 km NW 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 64.8216, -147.5025. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK 51 km (31 mi) ESE earthquakes near Fairbanks North Star Borough

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 6 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  2. 1.7 4 km ENE of Badger, Alaska
  3. 1.7 12 km ENE of Fox, Alaska
  4. 1.8 19 km SSW of Badger, Alaska
  5. 1.6 8 km ENE of Badger, Alaska
  6. 1.5 12 km E of Fox, Alaska
  7. 1.9 5 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  8. 1.7 6 km SW of Salcha, Alaska
  9. 1.5 7 km ENE of Fox, Alaska
  10. 1.5 6 km SW of Salcha, Alaska
  11. 1.6 5 km SW of Salcha, Alaska
  12. 2.0 6 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  13. 2.3 5 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  14. 3.4 5 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  15. 3.0 5 km SSW of Salcha, 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.