QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.9mb

62 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska

Yes. A magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 62 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska, at 1:49 am AKST on 12 February 2025 (10:49 UTC), 10 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 10 km deep · released about 11 tons 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 3.9 (mb)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 560 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 89 km (55 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 11 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.9 about 11 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 22× 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 6.1 on 2020-07-22 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.4 54 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 33 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 72 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 32 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 85 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 50 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.5 94 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska · 38 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 6.3 68 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 27 km SSW 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 55.2098, -159.5355. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 38 km ENE of Sand Point, Alaska
  2. 1.7 40 km ENE of Sand Point, Alaska
  3. 1.8 43 km ENE of Sand Point, Alaska
  4. 1.9 63 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  5. 2.2 83 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska
  6. 2.8 70 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska
  7. 1.6 57 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska
  8. 1.6 60 km S of Perryville, Alaska
  9. 3.0 63 km S of Ivanof Bay, Alaska
  10. 2.1 74 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  11. 2.0 81 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  12. 1.9 78 km S of Ivanof Bay, Alaska
  13. 2.0 79 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska
  14. 2.5 33 km SSW of Ivanof Bay, Alaska
  15. 2.2 32 km E 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.