Reviewed by USGSAlaska115y ago
M7.1 earthquake 4 km ENE of Karluk, Alaska
Thursday, November 7, 1912, 07:40:21 UTC · 57.592°N, 154.389°W
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 4 km ENE of Karluk, Alaska on Thursday, November 7, 1912, 07:40:21 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.9 on October 9, 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.1
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 35 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: 200 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
629 kilotons of TNT
That is about 42 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,318 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
213 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
35 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 200 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.1 on December 5, 1912. 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 49 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1900M8.3
Kodiak Island
9 Oct 1900 · 78 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1788M8.0
Unga Island
21 Jul 1788 · 106 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1792
Kodiak Island
1792 · 158 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1906M7.6
Aleutian Islands
23 Dec 1906 · 88 km away
- 1912M7.5
Alaska Peninsula
7 Nov 1912 · 38 km away · intensity V
- 1854
Gulf Of Alaska
27 Jan 1854 · 158 km away · intensity V
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.