Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1mb
224 km W of Adak, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 224 km W of Adak, Alaska at 09:10 UTC on 2021-03-21, 128 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (mb)
- Depth
- 128 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1991 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 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 2016-11-23 — about 1,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 35 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 237 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 46 km S of this epicentre
- 6.7 205 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 33 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.7 227 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 39 km S of this epicentre
- 6.7 221 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 29 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.6 193 km WSW of Adak, Alaska · 45 km SE 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 51.7669, -179.8821. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 227 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 3.1 216 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 2.8 196 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 2.7 230 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 2.8 192 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.8 Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
- 2.6 188 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 2.2 212 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 1.8 211 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 2.7 200 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 2.9 226 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 2.0 211 km W of Adak, Alaska
- 1.9 223 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 3.1 225 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.6 223 km W 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.