QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 5.6mb

122 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake was recorded 122 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska at 06:20 UTC on 2020-07-22, 25 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 25 km deep · released about 3.8 kilotons 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 5.6 (mb)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 326 days ago

This was a moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 276 km (171 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 3.8 kilotons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 5.6 about 3.8 kilotons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7,900× 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 7.8 on 2020-07-22 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 104 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska · 34 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 85 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 47 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.5 94 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska · 29 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 113 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 27 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 99 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 44 km WSW 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 54.7461, -158.8750. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 132 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  2. 2.6 101 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  3. 2.2 96 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  4. 2.2 120 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  5. 2.1 92 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  6. 2.2 123 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  7. 4.0 94 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  8. 2.5 138 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  9. 2.2 119 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  10. 4.1 84 km S of Perryville, Alaska
  11. 2.5 127 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  12. 2.2 123 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  13. 4.5 120 km SSE of Perryville, Alaska
  14. 2.6 96 km S of Perryville, Alaska
  15. 4.4 127 km SSE of Perryville, 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.