Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
156 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 156 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska at 21:11 UTC on 2026-05-01, 5.8 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 190 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 11 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 45,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 109 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 152 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 27 km N of this epicentre
- 5.4 140 km SSE of Alcan Border, Alaska · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 136 km E of McCarthy, Alaska · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.1 145 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska · 13 km NW 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 61.0960, -140.0820. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 156 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.5 148 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.8 134 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.9 150 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 1.5 141 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.0 140 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska
- 3.0 144 km SSE of Alcan Border, Alaska
- 2.1 127 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.5 146 km E of McCarthy, Alaska
- 2.0 158 km ESE of McCarthy, Alaska
- 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
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.