Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.6ml
Earthquake near Valdez, AK
USGS: 16 km NE of Valdez, Alaska
- When
- 9:48 am AKDT on 9 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) NE of Valdez, AK · earthquakes near Valdez
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 22 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Chugach Census Area, 84 km S
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1 hour ago
A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) NE of Valdez, AK, at 9:48 am AKDT on 9 October 2026 (17:48 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Valdez, 17 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 350 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 Near Valdez, Alaska · 28 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 21 km NNW of Tatitlek, Alaska · 43 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 48 km NNW of Valdez, Alaska · 42 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.1 48 km SSE of Nelchina, Alaska · 41 km NNW 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 61.2430, -146.1450. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chugach Census Area, AK | 84 km (52 mi) | S | earthquakes near Chugach Census Area |
| Copper River Census Area, AK | 147 km (91 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Copper River Census Area |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| longitude | -146.17 | -146.15 | |
| latitude | 61.25 | 61.24 | |
| depth | 31.5 | 22.3 | |
| magnitude | 3 | 2.6 |
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.