Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.7mb
150 km S of False Pass, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded 150 km S of False Pass, Alaska at 02:51 UTC on 2020-09-21, 22 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.7 (mb)
- Depth
- 22 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2176 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 73 km (45 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 5.9 on 2016-10-27 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 56 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 146 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska · 13 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Unimak Island region, Alaska · 39 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 136 km SE of Akutan, Alaska · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 136 km S of False Pass, Alaska · 20 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 184 km SE of Akutan, Alaska · 35 km SSE 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 53.5058, -163.5886. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 113 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska
- 3.1 156 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.0 110 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.5 120 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.6 145 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.3 108 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.4 118 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.2 163 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.3 152 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 3.3 Unimak Island region, Alaska
- 3.0 125 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.0 153 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.1 102 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.2 116 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.2 119 km ESE of Akutan, 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.