QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

70 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 70 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska at 21:50 UTC on 2025-11-20, 13 km deep.

· 13 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yakutat City and Borough 18 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 1.9 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yakutat City and Borough, 18 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Malaspina fault (Chugach-St. Elias fold and thrust belt), 16 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 347 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 6 km (4 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 730,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 520,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 46× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 5.0 on 2022-09-29 — about 46,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 90 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 115 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 45 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 100 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 38 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 102 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 112 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska · 42 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 59.9454, -140.7008. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yakutat City and Borough, AK 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Yakutat City and Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 83 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  2. 1.6 109 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  3. 1.7 79 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  4. 1.6 78 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  5. 2.4 108 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  6. 1.9 109 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  7. 3.3 109 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  8. 1.8 107 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  9. 1.8 96 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  10. 2.2 98 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  11. 2.0 94 km WNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  12. 1.7 113 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  13. 2.0 105 km NW of Yakutat, Alaska
  14. 2.1 104 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
  15. 1.9 104 km NNW 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.