Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Big Lake, AK
Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) west-northwest of Big Lake, AK, at 5:54 pm AKDT on 19 October 2026 (01:54 UTC), 62 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 20 km WNW of Susitna, Alaska
68 km (42 mi) NW of Anchorage, AK
- When
- 5:54 pm AKDT on 19 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 49 km (30 mi) west-northwest of Big Lake, AK · earthquakes near Big Lake
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 62 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Anchorage Municipality, 97 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Castle Mountain fault, 24 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 18 hours ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Lake, AK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Lake, AK. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Big Lake, 49 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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 6.0 on 2025-11-27 — about 4,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 27 km SE of Skwentna, Alaska · 23 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 27 km N of Beluga, Alaska · 28 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 20 km ENE of Beluga, Alaska · 43 km S of this epicentre
- 5.7 19 km E of Skwentna, Alaska · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 11 km NW of Big Lake, Alaska · 39 km E 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 61.6230, -150.8560. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 97 km (61 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Anchorage Municipality |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 101 km (62 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
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.
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
- 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.