Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.6mww
82 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 4.6 earthquake was recorded 82 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska at 16:14 UTC on 2024-03-19, 11 km deep. 31 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 4.6 (mww)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 31 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Yakutat City and Borough, 144 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Yakutat fault (also known as Foothills fault), 2 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 900 days ago
This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 148 km (92 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 120 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 1,400× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.6 about 120 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 250× more
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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.3 on 2021-02-08.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 120 km WSW of Covenant Life, Alaska · 43 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 115 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska · 34 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 43 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska · 38 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 57 km SE of Yakutat, Alaska · 33 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 59.1474, -138.5160. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakutat City and Borough, AK | 144 km (90 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Yakutat City and Borough |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 42 km E of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.6 114 km SE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.5 59 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.9 95 km SE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.9 63 km E of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.8 50 km SE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.1 112 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 3.8 98 km SSE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.6 70 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.7 44 km E of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.3 97 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.7 67 km ESE of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.9 60 km E of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.6 63 km E of Yakutat, Alaska
- 2.0 75 km SE of Yakutat, 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.