Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 5.6ml
43 km NNW of Lake Minchumina, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake was recorded 43 km NNW of Lake Minchumina, Alaska at 11:07 UTC on 2026-10-15, 4.5 km deep. 63 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 5.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 63 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
- Measured shaking
- intensity VII (ShakeMap)
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 27 minutes ago
This was a moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 277 km (172 mi) from the epicentre. 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 3.8 kilotons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 5.6 about 3.8 kilotons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7,900× more
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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.7 on 2023-03-02.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 64.2200, -152.7460. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| felt reports | 61 | 63 | |
| reported intensity | 3.3 | 5.8 | |
| felt reports | 52 | 61 | |
| felt reports | 45 | 52 | |
| felt reports | 32 | 45 | |
| reported intensity | 3.4 | 3.3 | |
| felt reports | 24 | 32 | |
| reported intensity | 3.1 | 3.4 | |
| felt reports | 3 | 24 | |
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| longitude | -152.7 | -152.75 | |
| latitude | 64.23 | 64.22 |
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.