Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
108 km N of Yakutat, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 108 km N of Yakutat, Alaska at 21:42 UTC on 2026-10-17, 5.0 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Yakutat City and Borough, 64 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3 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 46 km (29 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
- 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 7.0 on 2025-12-06 — about 500,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 90 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.4 106 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska · 50 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 102 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 92 km NNW of Yakutat, Alaska · 33 km SW 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 60.5158, -139.8538. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakutat City and Borough, AK | 64 km (39 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Yakutat City and Borough |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.