QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.8mb

93 km ESE of Adak, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 4.8 earthquake was recorded 93 km ESE of Adak, Alaska at 15:33 UTC on 2022-12-05, 47 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 47 km deep · released about 240 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 4.8 (mb)
Depth
47 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1371 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 164 km (102 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 240 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 710× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.8 about 240 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 500× 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 6.3 on 2019-11-24 — about 180 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 158 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 8.6 1957 Atka, Alaska Earthquake · 22 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 8.0 1986 Atka, Alaska Earthquake · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 7.0 101 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 11 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 6.9 100 km ESE of Adak, Alaska · 10 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 6.8 99 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 18 km ESE 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 51.6051, -175.3523. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 91 km ESE of Adak, Alaska
  2. 1.7 57 km ESE of Adak, Alaska
  3. 2.6 83 km SW of Atka, Alaska
  4. 2.6 72 km SE of Adak, Alaska
  5. 3.7 82 km ESE of Adak, Alaska
  6. 1.7 58 km ESE of Adak, Alaska
  7. 3.1 89 km SE of Adak, Alaska
  8. 3.2 103 km ESE of Adak, Alaska
  9. 3.5 Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
  10. 1.8 85 km ESE of Adak, Alaska
  11. 1.6 70 km SE of Adak, Alaska
  12. 3.1 89 km SW of Atka, Alaska
  13. 3.2 72 km SW of Atka, Alaska
  14. 2.7 Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
  15. 3.3 57 km ESE 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.