Reviewed by USGSAlaska18y ago
M2.9 earthquake in Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Sunday, July 13, 2008, 11:44:42 UTC · 50.617°N, 177.581°E
A magnitude 2.9 earthquake struck in Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska on Sunday, July 13, 2008, 11:44:42 UTC, at a depth of 25.3 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.9
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 25 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
11 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North American and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
25 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 679 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.71965 Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) EarthquakeFebruary 4, 1965 · 106 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31906 Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 144 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaNovember 17, 2003 · 95 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaMarch 30, 1965 · 42 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.4265 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaFebruary 4, 1965 · 168 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2238 km SSE of Attu Station, AlaskaSeptember 8, 1939 · 189 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2207 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaDecember 19, 2007 · 220 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2238 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaMarch 22, 1905 · 189 km E 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:
- 1965M8.7
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
4 Feb 1965 · 106 km away · intensity VI
Under $1 million damagetsunami
- 1906M8.3
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
17 Aug 1906 · 144 km away
- 1905M7.9
Andreanof Islands
14 Feb 1905 · 273 km away
- 1909M7.8
Aleutian Islands
10 Apr 1909 · 236 km away
- 2003M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
17 Nov 2003 · 95 km away
tsunami
- 1916M7.7
Aleutian Islands
6 Feb 1916 · 245 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.