Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 5.2mb
122 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
Yes. A magnitude 5.2 earthquake was recorded 122 km SSW of Adak, Alaska at 00:30 UTC on 2024-12-09, 10 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 5.2 (mb)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 633 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 218 km (135 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 950 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7.9× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 5.2 about 950 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2,000× 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 6.3 on 2024-12-09 — about 45 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 42 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 90 km SSW of Adak, Alaska · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.6 85 km SSW of Adak, Alaska · 38 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.4 146 km S of Adak, Alaska · 41 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.4 76 km SSW of Adak, Alaska · 50 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 130 km SSW of Adak, Alaska · 17 km W 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 50.8375, -177.2197. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.9 123 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 3.0 116 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.2 115 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 3.4 123 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.9 119 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.2 90 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.9 113 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.3 114 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.8 118 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.1 110 km SW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.5 111 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.7 105 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 3.0 121 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 2.1 108 km SSW of Adak, Alaska
- 3.4 123 km SSW of Adak, 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.