Reviewed by USGSAlaska4y ago
M2.9 earthquake 216 km SE of Chignik, Alaska
Tuesday, August 30, 2022, 08:08:59 UTC · 54.712°N, 156.416°W
A magnitude 2.9 earthquake struck 216 km SE of Chignik, Alaska on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, 08:08:59 UTC, at a depth of 1.9 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.9
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 2 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
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
25 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
2 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 M2.7 on September 1, 2022. 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 302 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21938 Semidi Islands, Alaska EarthquakeNovember 10, 1938 · 124 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.22021 Chignik, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 29, 2021 · 118 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.82020 Perryville, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 22, 2020 · 145 km W of this epicenter
- 7.62020 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeOctober 19, 2020 · 207 km W of this epicenter
- 7.454 km SE of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 31, 1917 · 224 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0113 km ESE of Chignik, AlaskaMay 4, 1923 · 127 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0164 km SE of Chignik, AlaskaSeptember 4, 1989 · 68 km N of this epicenter
- 6.9112 km E of Chignik, AlaskaOctober 11, 2021 · 176 km N 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:
- 2020M7.8
Alaska
22 Jul 2020 · 145 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1938M8.2
Alaska
10 Nov 1938 · 151 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 2021M8.2
Alaska Peninsula
29 Jul 2021 · 114 km away · intensity VIII
tsunami
- 1788M8.0
Alaska Peninsula
6 Aug 1788 · 295 km away
tsunami
- 1906M7.6
Aleutian Islands
23 Dec 1906 · 285 km away
- 2020M7.6
Alaska
19 Oct 2020 · 207 km away · intensity IX
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.