QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Salcha, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Salcha in the 24 hours to 6:08 pm AKST (03:08 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 6 km (4 mi) SSW, at 4:06 pm AKST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salcha

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) west of Salcha, AK, at 12:52 am AKDT on 4 October 2026 (08:52 UTC), 10 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 12 km W of Salcha, Alaska

12:52 am AKDT, Oct 4, 2026 · · 10 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fairbanks North Star Borough 36 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
12:52 am AKDT on 4 October 2026 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) west of Salcha, AK · earthquakes near Salcha
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fairbanks North Star Borough, 36 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Atsaksovluk fault, under 1 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 40 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Salcha, 12 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Eielson Air Force Base, North Pole.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 5.3 on 2024-01-19 — about 500,000 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. 7.1 Central Alaska · 20 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 39 km SW of Salcha, Alaska · 31 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 15 km SSW of Badger, Alaska · 30 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 3 km ESE of Farmers Loop, Alaska · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 10 km SSW of Badger, Alaska · 30 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 64.5180, -147.1600. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK 36 km (22 mi) ENE earthquakes near Fairbanks North Star Borough

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

Aftershocks so far

33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.4 3 km SSE of Salcha, Alaska
  2. 1.4 37 km WSW of Salcha, Alaska
  3. 1.7 5 km SE of Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska
  4. 1.1 2 km NE of Fairbanks, Alaska
  5. 1.8 5 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  6. 1.2 5 km NNE of Badger, Alaska
  7. 1.4 5 km NNW of Badger, Alaska
  8. 1.4 5 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  9. 1.4 6 km NNE of Badger, Alaska
  10. 1.4 5 km N of Badger, Alaska
  11. 1.4 8 km E of Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska
  12. 1.7 3 km SE of Salcha, Alaska
  13. 1.5 12 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  14. 1.3 16 km SSW of Salcha, Alaska
  15. 1.5 9 km S of Eielson Air Force Base, 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 changedFromToWhen
magnitude1.11.5

On USGS

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