QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

227 km SE of Akutan, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 227 km SE of Akutan, Alaska at 00:03 UTC on 2025-05-20, 12 km deep.

· 12 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 540 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 12 km (7 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 5.3 on 2024-10-16 — about 63,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 228 km S of False Pass, Alaska · 47 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 218 km SE of Akutan, Alaska · 8 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 200 km SE of Akutan, Alaska · 31 km WNW 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 52.5504, -163.6261. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 187 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  2. 3.2 228 km S of False Pass, Alaska
  3. 2.6 204 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  4. 2.7 209 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  5. 2.8 194 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  6. 3.0 187 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  7. 2.3 200 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  8. 2.9 213 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  9. 2.9 198 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  10. 2.7 190 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  11. 2.7 219 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  12. 2.6 215 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  13. 2.8 221 km S of False Pass, Alaska
  14. 2.9 194 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
  15. 2.7 224 km SSE of Akutan, 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.