Reviewed by USGSAlaska62y ago
M5.5 earthquake 92 km SE of Attu Station, Alaska
Saturday, March 6, 1965, 08:19:32 UTC · 52.303°N, 174.211°E
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 92 km SE of Attu Station, Alaska on Saturday, March 6, 1965, 08:19:32 UTC, at a depth of 27.6 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.6 on March 5, 1965.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 28 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
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/5 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
94 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
28 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 118 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.31906 Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 276 km E of this epicenter
- 7.993 km NW of Attu Station, AlaskaDecember 17, 1929 · 185 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4151 km S of Attu Station, AlaskaSeptember 2, 1907 · 131 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2238 km SSE of Attu Station, AlaskaSeptember 8, 1939 · 154 km S of this epicenter
- 7.024 km E of Attu Station, AlaskaApril 16, 1940 · 75 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.080 km SSE of Attu Station, AlaskaApril 16, 1940 · 31 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0167 km WSW of Attu Station, AlaskaApril 10, 1909 · 224 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0171 km WNW of Attu Station, AlaskaJanuary 5, 1953 · 262 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1906M8.3
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
17 Aug 1906 · 276 km away
- 1909M7.8
Aleutian Islands
10 Apr 1909 · 64 km away
- 1929M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Near Islands
17 Dec 1929 · 185 km away
- 1898M7.6
Aleutian Islands: Near Islands
29 Jun 1898 · 155 km away
- 1940M7.4
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
14 Jul 1940 · 274 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.