QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

193 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 193 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska at 11:57 UTC on 2017-12-26, 9.9 km deep.

· 9.9 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

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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
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
9.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest mapped fault
Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1191 days ago

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 21 km (13 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 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 8.6 The 1946 Unimak Island, Alaska Earthquake · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 226 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska · 32 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 210 km S of King Cove, Alaska · 27 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 172 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 187 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska · 9 km WNW 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 53.2610, -162.2119. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 196 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  2. 2.6 206 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  3. 2.8 208 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  4. 3.1 229 km S of King Cove, Alaska
  5. 3.1 215 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  6. 2.7 201 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  7. 2.8 212 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  8. 3.6 241 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  9. 2.8 227 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  10. 2.6 226 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  11. 2.6 186 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  12. 3.0 201 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  13. 3.3 236 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  14. 2.3 212 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
  15. 2.9 237 km S of King Cove, 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.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.