QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.6mb

166 km WSW of Nikolski, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 4.6 earthquake was recorded 166 km WSW of Nikolski, Alaska at 11:50 UTC on 2017-11-11, 52 km deep.

· 52 km deep · released about 120 tons 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 4.6 (mb)
Depth
52 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1192 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 140 km (87 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 120 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.6 about 120 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 250× 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 since 2016 was M 5.2 on 2017-05-19 — about 7.9 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 63 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 170 km E of Atka, Alaska · 49 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 179 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska · 43 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 188 km E of Atka, Alaska · 32 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 177 km WSW of Nikolski, Alaska · 20 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 52.1898, -170.9865. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 180 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  2. 2.5 Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
  3. 2.7 180 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  4. 2.8 174 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  5. 2.8 Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
  6. 3.2 172 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  7. 3.0 183 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  8. 3.1 161 km WSW of Nikolski, Alaska
  9. 3.1 183 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  10. 3.3 180 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  11. 4.0 169 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  12. 5.9 180 km WSW of Nikolski, Alaska
  13. 3.6 184 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  14. 3.1 199 km SW of Nikolski, Alaska
  15. 3.9 184 km WSW of Nikolski, 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.