Reviewed by USGSAlaska26y ago
M2.9 earthquake 29 km WNW of Karluk, Alaska
Monday, May 15, 2000, 12:56:36 UTC · 57.690°N, 154.903°W
A magnitude 2.9 earthquake struck 29 km WNW of Karluk, Alaska on Monday, May 15, 2000, 12:56:36 UTC, at a depth of 64.1 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.9
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 64 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
338 kg of TNT
That is about 1/44,601 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1,413 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
240 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
64 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 320 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 · 235 km E of this epicenter
- 7.14 km ENE of Karluk, AlaskaNovember 7, 1912 · 32 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0113 km ESE of Chignik, AlaskaMay 4, 1923 · 235 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.026 km SSE of Karluk, AlaskaDecember 6, 1999 · 51 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0164 km SE of Chignik, AlaskaSeptember 4, 1989 · 279 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9143 km ESE of Chignik, AlaskaFebruary 13, 1951 · 226 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9171 km SW of Akhiok, AlaskaFebruary 6, 1964 · 226 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1900M8.3
Kodiak Island
9 Oct 1900 · 108 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1788M8.0
Unga Island
21 Jul 1788 · 138 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1970M6.0
Andreanof Islands
11 Mar 1970 · 63 km away · intensity V
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1792
Kodiak Island
1792 · 190 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1906M7.6
Aleutian Islands
23 Dec 1906 · 111 km away
- 1912M7.5
Alaska Peninsula
7 Nov 1912 · 22 km away · intensity V
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.