QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

Earthquake near Sand Point, AK

No earthquake was likely felt in Sand Point in the 24 hours to 8:12 am AKST (17:12 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 99 km (61 mi) SE, at 10:44 pm AKDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Sand Point

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) south-southeast of Sand Point, AK, at 11:54 pm AKDT on 5 August 2020 (07:54 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 32 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska

11:54 pm AKDT, Aug 5, 2020 · · 17 km deep · released about 1.9 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Sand Point Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aleutians East Borough 105 km
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
11:54 pm AKDT on 5 August 2020 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) south-southeast of Sand Point, AK · earthquakes near Sand Point
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aleutians East Borough, 105 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2214 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 55 km (34 mi) from the epicentre. In Sand Point, 32 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

Likely felt in: Sand Point 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 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 5.6 on 2020-07-29 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 31 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.4 54 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 32 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.9 17 km S of Sand Point, Alaska · 15 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 68 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 48 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 35 km S of Sand Point, Alaska · 9 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 39 km SW of Sand Point, Alaska · 41 km WNW 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 55.0537, -160.3784. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aleutians East Borough, AK 105 km (65 mi) WNW earthquakes near Aleutians East Borough

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 63 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
  2. 2.8 59 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  3. 1.5 25 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
  4. 1.9 74 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
  5. 1.8 54 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
  6. 2.1 59 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska
  7. 1.7 57 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  8. 2.6 56 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  9. 3.9 49 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  10. 4.2 46 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  11. 1.7 70 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  12. 3.0 52 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  13. 1.5 55 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
  14. 1.7 53 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
  15. 1.5 55 km SSE of Sand Point, 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.