Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Houston, AK
USGS: 8 km NW of Houston, Alaska
52 km (33 mi) N of Anchorage, AK
- When
- 6:41 am AKDT on 30 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 9 km (5 mi) NW of Houston, AK · earthquakes near Houston
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 27 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity I
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 67 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 7 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 2 days ago
A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) NW of Houston, AK, at 6:41 am AKDT on 30 September 2026 (14:41 UTC). 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Willow, Big Lake, Meadow Lakes, Knik-Fairview, Tanaina, Wasilla.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 32,000,000 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 · 27 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 14 km NNE of Fishhook, Alaska · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 16 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km N of Susitna, Alaska · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 2 km ENE of Eagle River, Alaska · 45 km SSE 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 61.6880, -149.9290. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 67 km (41 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 68 km (42 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
2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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 | 7 km NW of Houston, Alaska | 8 km NW of Houston, Alaska | |
| longitude | -149.93 | -149.93 | |
| latitude | 61.68 | 61.69 | |
| depth | 27 | 27.2 | |
| magnitude | 2 | 2.1 |
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.