QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

128 km SSE of McCarthy, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 128 km SSE of McCarthy, Alaska at 21:24 UTC on 2024-08-27, 3.6 km deep.

· 3.6 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yakutat City and Borough 88 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 2.1 (ml)
Depth
3.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yakutat City and Borough, 88 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Coal Glacier fault (Chugach-St. Elias fold and thrust belt), 10 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 770 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 17 km (11 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 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 2020-01-22 — about 710 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 113 km SE of McCarthy, Alaska · 28 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 115 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 36 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 126 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 43 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 102 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 50 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 112 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 39 km SE 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 60.4139, -141.8050. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yakutat City and Borough, AK 88 km (55 mi) ESE 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.

  1. 1.9 127 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  2. 1.9 106 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  3. 2.4 127 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  4. 2.2 132 km SE of McCarthy, Alaska
  5. 1.6 126 km SE of McCarthy, Alaska
  6. 1.5 130 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  7. 1.7 116 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  8. 2.0 118 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  9. 1.9 117 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  10. 1.6 131 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  11. 1.5 135 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  12. 1.7 116 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  13. 1.7 129 km SSE of McCarthy, Alaska
  14. 1.6 137 km SE of McCarthy, Alaska
  15. 1.5 131 km SSE of McCarthy, 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.