Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.7mb
220 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded 220 km WSW of Adak, Alaska at 02:51 UTC on 2018-12-18, 35 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.7 (mb)
- Depth
- 35 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2579 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 67 km (42 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 5.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 32,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.7 about 5.4 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 11× 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 5.1 on 2017-01-18 — about 130 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 172 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 238 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 18 km W of this epicentre
- 7.2 207 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 23 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.9 203 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 24 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.9 231 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 23 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.8 235 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 24 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 51.1626, -179.5974. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.1 240 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.8 185 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.0 191 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 4.0 192 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.5 210 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.5 196 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.6 174 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.8 236 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.6 228 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.4 185 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.8 217 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.6 224 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.8 232 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.8 236 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.7 178 km WSW of Adak, 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.