QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

26 km WNW of Tyonek, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 26 km WNW of Tyonek, Alaska, 92 km (57 mi) W of Anchorage, AK, at 7:21 am AKST on 4 January 2024 (16:21 UTC), 73 km deep.

92 km (57 mi) W of Anchorage, AK

· 73 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kenai Peninsula Borough 95 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
73 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kenai Peninsula Borough, 95 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Granite Point anticline (Cook Inlet folds), 22 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 1023 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 5.2 on 2017-05-30 — about 250,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 Southern Alaska · 27 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.8 4 km NE of Beluga, Alaska · 32 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.7 6 km WNW of Nikiski, Alaska · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 19 km SSE of Tyonek, Alaska · 41 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 Southern Alaska · 9 km NNW 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 61.1466, -151.6021. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 95 km (59 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kenai Peninsula Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 52 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska
  2. 2.3 43 km WNW of Nikiski, Alaska
  3. 1.5 32 km W of Nikiski, Alaska
  4. 1.6 13 km WNW of Nikiski, Alaska
  5. 1.6 28 km NW of Nikiski, Alaska
  6. 1.6 28 km SW of Tyonek, Alaska
  7. 1.8 2 km ENE of Tyonek, Alaska
  8. 1.6 13 km WSW of Tyonek, Alaska
  9. 1.5 46 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  10. 1.5 46 km WNW of Tyonek, Alaska
  11. 1.5 36 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska
  12. 1.5 32 km WSW of Tyonek, Alaska
  13. 1.6 23 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska
  14. 1.7 13 km W of Tyonek, Alaska
  15. 1.5 39 km WNW of Tyonek, 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.