QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Valdez, AK

USGS: 47 km N of Valdez, Alaska

9:29 pm AKDT, Sep 29, 2026 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Chugach Census Area 120 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
9:29 pm AKDT on 29 September 2026 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) N of Valdez, AK · earthquakes near Valdez
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Chugach Census Area, 120 km S
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) N of Valdez, AK, at 9:29 pm AKDT on 29 September 2026 (05:29 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. 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 4.3 on 2018-10-16 — about 11,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.5 47 km SSE of Glacier View, Alaska · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 48 km WNW of Valdez, Alaska · 43 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 49 km WNW of Valdez, Alaska · 47 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 48 km NNW of Valdez, Alaska · 12 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 9 km ESE of Eureka Roadhouse, Alaska · 49 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 61.5580, -146.4280. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Chugach Census Area, AK 120 km (74 mi) S earthquakes near Chugach Census Area

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

Aftershocks so far

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 49 km SSE of Eureka Roadhouse, 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.