QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

50 km W of Cantwell, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 50 km W of Cantwell, Alaska, at 6:55 pm AKDT on 15 October 2024 (02:55 UTC), 2.3 km deep.

· 2.3 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Denali Borough 30 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 2.5 (ml)
Depth
2.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Denali Borough, 30 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Denali fault, 9 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 687 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 22 km (14 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 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 4.4 on 2023-05-09 — about 710 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 Mount McKinley (Denali) area, Alaska · 25 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 Mount McKinley (Denali) area, Alaska · 27 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 52 km WSW of Ferry, Alaska · 48 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 66 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska · 40 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 53 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska · 37 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 63.4163, -149.9547. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Denali Borough, AK 30 km (18 mi) N earthquakes near Denali 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. 1.6 65 km W of Cantwell, Alaska
  2. 2.2 69 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska
  3. 1.5 75 km WSW of Cantwell, Alaska
  4. 1.5 62 km W of Cantwell, Alaska
  5. 1.5 63 km N of Chase, Alaska
  6. 2.4 43 km SW of Cantwell, Alaska
  7. 3.0 51 km SW of Cantwell, Alaska
  8. 1.5 63 km W of Cantwell, Alaska
  9. 1.5 71 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska
  10. 2.1 65 km WSW of Cantwell, Alaska
  11. 1.5 33 km W of Denali Park, Alaska
  12. 1.6 26 km W of Denali Park, Alaska
  13. 1.7 36 km WSW of Cantwell, Alaska
  14. 1.7 73 km NNE of Petersville, Alaska
  15. 1.5 52 km SW of Cantwell, 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.