Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7ml
117 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 117 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska, at 12:06 am AKDT on 30 October 2020 (08:06 UTC), 24 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 24 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2125 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 8 km (5 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 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 lb of TNT
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 7.6 on 2020-10-19 — about 22,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 85 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 39 km N of this epicentre
- 6.1 79 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 71 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 113 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 34 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.9 99 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 26 km NNE 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 54.4146, -159.6213. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 128 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 3.9 108 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 2.6 90 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 3.0 113 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 2.7 114 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 3.0 117 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 2.4 101.8 km NNW of Sand Point, AK
- 2.5 99 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 2.2 86.9 km NNW of Sand Point, AK
- 2.4 108 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 2.3 103.5 km NNW of Sand Point, AK
- 2.6 135 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 2.4 107.3 km NNW of Sand Point, AK
- 4.0 105 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska
- 2.9 116 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
- 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.