Reviewed by USGSAlaska18y ago
M2.7 earthquake 297 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
Sunday, October 19, 2008, 02:34:41 UTC · 51.038°N, 179.299°E
A magnitude 2.7 earthquake struck 297 km WSW of Adak, Alaska on Sunday, October 19, 2008, 02:34:41 UTC, at a depth of 11.2 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.7
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 11 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
169 kg of TNT
That is about 1/88,990 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2,818 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
54 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
11 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 875 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 · 47 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.31906 Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 119 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.977 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaJune 10, 1996 · 221 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaNovember 17, 2003 · 47 km W of this epicenter
- 7.6Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaMarch 30, 1965 · 130 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.65 km WNW of Adak, AlaskaFebruary 14, 1905 · 293 km E of this epicenter
- 7.4265 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaFebruary 4, 1965 · 49 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.388 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaJuly 7, 1929 · 211 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 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 · 47 km away · intensity VI
Under $1 million damagetsunami
- 1906M8.3
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
17 Aug 1906 · 119 km away
- 1905M7.9
Andreanof Islands
14 Feb 1905 · 155 km away
- 1996M7.9
Andreanof Islands
10 Jun 1996 · 221 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 2003M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
17 Nov 2003 · 47 km away
tsunami
- 1916M7.7
Aleutian Islands
6 Feb 1916 · 288 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.