Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Houston, AK
No earthquake was likely felt in Houston in the 24 hours to 2:49 pm AKST (23:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 6:17 am AKST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Houston
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) west of Houston, AK, at 9:24 am AKDT on 26 September 2026 (17:24 UTC), 14 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 6 km W of Houston, Alaska
47 km (29 mi) N of Anchorage, AK
- When
- 9:24 am AKDT on 26 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) west of Houston, AK · earthquakes near Houston
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity I
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 63 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 2 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 48 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Houston, AK
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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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Houston, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.
Likely felt in: Willow 13 km, intensity II · Big Lake 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 7.1 on 2018-11-30 — about 16,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 23 km NE of Willow, Alaska · 32 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 12 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 30 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 41 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 9 km E of Susitna, Alaska · 24 km WSW 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 61.6410, -149.9420. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 63 km (39 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 73 km (45 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 4 km NNE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 2.2 12 km W of Fishhook, Alaska
- 1.8 8 km WSW of Knik, Alaska
- 1.9 16 km WNW of Fishhook, Alaska
- 1.6 10 km E of Willow, Alaska
- 2.0 24 km NW of Fishhook, Alaska
- 1.7 15 km N of Meadow Lakes, Alaska
- 1.7 8 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.8 26 km NW of Fishhook, Alaska
- 1.6 12 km NNW of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.7 3 km ENE of Big Lake, Alaska
- 3.6 2 km NW of Knik, Alaska
- 1.7 7 km SE of Houston, Alaska
- 1.8 11 km NNW of Big Lake, Alaska
- 1.9 1 km N of Houston, 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| reported intensity | not reported | 1 | |
| felt reports | not reported | 1 | |
| location | 6 km WNW of Houston, Alaska | 6 km W of Houston, Alaska | |
| latitude | 61.64 | 61.64 | |
| depth | 13.8 | 14 | |
| magnitude | 2.1 | 2.3 |
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.