QuakeScout
Magnitude4.0

Reviewed by USGSAlaska26y ago

M4.0 earthquake 70 km WSW of Karluk, Alaska

Wednesday, May 3, 2000, 19:03:39 UTC · 57.238°N, 155.460°W

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 70 km WSW of Karluk, Alaska on Wednesday, May 3, 2000, 19:03:39 UTC, at a depth of 55.6 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.0
Light · mb
Depth
56 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
—
No ShakeMap
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

15 tons of TNT

That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

227 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North American and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

56 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 50 km

USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.6 on May 9, 2000. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.0
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.677 km W of Karluk, Alaska26y ago · 45 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 2.675 km W of Karluk, Alaska26y ago · 46 km N of this epicenter
  3. 3.165 km W of Karluk, Alaska26y ago · 36 km N of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 306 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.21938 Semidi Islands, Alaska EarthquakeNovember 10, 1938 · 284 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.9Kodiak Island region, AlaskaOctober 9, 1900 · 268 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.14 km ENE of Karluk, AlaskaNovember 7, 1912 · 75 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.0113 km ESE of Chignik, AlaskaMay 4, 1923 · 175 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.026 km SSE of Karluk, AlaskaDecember 6, 1999 · 68 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.0164 km SE of Chignik, AlaskaSeptember 4, 1989 · 221 km S of this epicenter
  7. 6.9105 km ESE of Perryville, AlaskaNovember 17, 1938 · 247 km SW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1900M8.3

    Kodiak Island

    9 Oct 1900 · 121 km away · intensity VIII

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  2. 1788M8.0

    Unga Island

    21 Jul 1788 · 151 km away · intensity VII

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1970M6.0

    Andreanof Islands

    11 Mar 1970 · 98 km away · intensity V

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1792

    Kodiak Island

    1792 · 211 km away · intensity VII

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1938M8.2

    Alaska

    10 Nov 1938 · 265 km away · intensity VI

    tsunami

  6. 1906M7.6

    Aleutian Islands

    23 Dec 1906 · 104 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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