Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
165 km S of False Pass, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 165 km S of False Pass, Alaska at 22:10 UTC on 2018-05-20, 38 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 38 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1187 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 5.9 on 2016-10-27 — about 130,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 55 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 8.6 The 1946 Unimak Island, Alaska Earthquake · 50 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.6 146 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska · 24 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 136 km SE of Akutan, Alaska · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 136 km S of False Pass, Alaska · 34 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 172 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska · 47 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 53.3697, -163.5514. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 139 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.6 140 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 3.2 153 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.6 162 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.4 158 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.6 201 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.6 Unimak Island region, Alaska
- 2.1 136 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.4 158 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.3 161 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 3.4 164 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.7 149 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 4.1 152 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.3 152 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.8 126 km S of False Pass, 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
- 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.