Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.7mb
152 km S of False Pass, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded 152 km S of False Pass, Alaska at 16:09 UTC on 2021-09-13, 35 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.7 (mb)
- Depth
- 35 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1816 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 67 km (42 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 5.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 32,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.7 about 5.4 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 11× 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 5.9 on 2016-10-27 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 58 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 8.6 The 1946 Unimak Island, Alaska Earthquake · 39 km E of this epicentre
- 6.6 146 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska · 24 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Unimak Island region, Alaska · 48 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 136 km SE of Akutan, Alaska · 42 km W of this epicentre
- 6.2 136 km S of False Pass, Alaska · 29 km NW 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 53.4819, -163.4278. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 132 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 1.9 158 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 1.6 125 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 4.2 152 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.5 142 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.1 185 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 3.5 155 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.1 104 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 1.7 105 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 2.6 154 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.7 156 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 3.5 141 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 3.0 164 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 1.9 112 km S of False Pass, Alaska
- 1.7 132 km ESE of Akutan, 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.