QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

157 km SW of Adak, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 157 km SW of Adak, Alaska at 13:17 UTC on 2021-10-14, 33 km deep.

· 33 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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 3.2 (ml)
Depth
33 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1792 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 33 km (21 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 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 6.0 on 2019-12-02 — about 16,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 47 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 144 km SW of Adak, Alaska · 36 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 133 km SW of Adak, Alaska · 46 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 134 km SW of Adak, Alaska · 36 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 161 km SW of Adak, Alaska · 25 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 134 km SW of Adak, Alaska · 40 km N 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 50.7879, -178.0931. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 138 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  2. 2.1 203 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  3. 1.8 111 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  4. 3.3 146 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
  5. 2.1 133 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  6. 2.0 142 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  7. 2.4 179 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
  8. 1.9 127 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  9. 1.6 124 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  10. 2.1 130 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  11. 1.9 131 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  12. 1.7 129 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  13. 3.1 136 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  14. 4.1 134 km SW of Adak, Alaska
  15. 2.5 136 km SW 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.