Reviewed by USGSAlaska26y ago
M3.1 earthquake 65 km W of Karluk, Alaska
Thursday, May 4, 2000, 10:15:28 UTC · 57.556°N, 155.557°W
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck 65 km W of Karluk, Alaska on Thursday, May 4, 2000, 10:15:28 UTC, at a depth of 61.6 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.1
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 62 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
674 kg of TNT
That is about 1/22,353 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 708 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
256 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
62 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.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 307 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.9Kodiak Island region, AlaskaOctober 9, 1900 · 273 km E of this epicenter
- 7.14 km ENE of Karluk, AlaskaNovember 7, 1912 · 70 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0113 km ESE of Chignik, AlaskaMay 4, 1923 · 205 km S of this epicenter
- 7.026 km SSE of Karluk, AlaskaDecember 6, 1999 · 76 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0164 km SE of Chignik, AlaskaSeptember 4, 1989 · 254 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9105 km ESE of Perryville, AlaskaNovember 17, 1938 · 274 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.9143 km ESE of Chignik, AlaskaFebruary 13, 1951 · 200 km S 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:
- 1900M8.3
Kodiak Island
9 Oct 1900 · 135 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1788M8.0
Unga Island
21 Jul 1788 · 166 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1970M6.0
Andreanof Islands
11 Mar 1970 · 99 km away · intensity V
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1792
Kodiak Island
1792 · 223 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1938M8.2
Alaska
10 Nov 1938 · 288 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 1906M7.6
Aleutian Islands
23 Dec 1906 · 127 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.