Reviewed by USGSAlaska72y ago
M6.5 earthquake 84 km E of Nikolski, Alaska
Thursday, January 13, 1955, 02:35:51 UTC · 53.031°N, 167.613°W
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 84 km E of Nikolski, Alaska on Thursday, January 13, 1955, 02:35:51 UTC, at a depth of 40.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on January 13, 1955.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 40 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
71 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 150 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
98 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
40 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 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 68 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8234 km SSW of Nikolski, AlaskaMarch 7, 1929 · 279 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.4133 km WNW of Nikolski, AlaskaApril 18, 1916 · 208 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0203 km SSE of Unalaska, AlaskaAugust 22, 1940 · 173 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.977 km SSW of Nikolski, AlaskaJanuary 23, 1935 · 145 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.881 km ENE of Nikolski, AlaskaJanuary 13, 1955 · 14 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.846 km SSW of Nikolski, AlaskaJuly 22, 1933 · 119 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1901M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
31 Dec 1901 · 291 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1917M7.9
Alaska Peninsula
31 May 1917 · 219 km away · intensity V
- 1902M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
1 Jan 1902 · 71 km away
- 1907M7.8
Aleutian Islands
2 Sep 1907 · 150 km away
- 1929M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
7 Mar 1929 · 279 km away · intensity V
tsunami
- 1916M7.5
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
18 Apr 1916 · 162 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.