Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
156 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 156 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska at 22:54 UTC on 2026-04-18, 9.9 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 208 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 5 km (3 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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 4.8 on 2023-08-06 — about 63,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 109 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 152 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 25 km N of this epicentre
- 5.4 140 km SSE of Alcan Border, Alaska · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 136 km SSE of Alcan Border, Alaska · 48 km N of this epicentre
- 5.3 136 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 40 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 61.1130, -140.0730. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 142 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 1.6 158 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.9 158 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.7 155 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.9 154 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.7 156 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.5 129 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.0 157 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.4 146 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.5 141 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.5 155 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.0 156 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.6 160 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.1 160 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.6 138 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.