Reviewed by USGSAlaska89y ago
M5.9 earthquake 63 km S of Sand Point, Alaska
Tuesday, November 15, 1938, 09:52:00 UTC · 54.770°N, 160.658°W
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 63 km S of Sand Point, Alaska on Tuesday, November 15, 1938, 09:52:00 UTC, at a depth of 40.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on November 11, 1938.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · 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
11 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 23 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
119 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
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 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 32 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 · 164 km E of this epicenter
- 7.454 km SE of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 31, 1917 · 56 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0113 km ESE of Chignik, AlaskaMay 4, 1923 · 273 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.873 km SW of Sand Point, AlaskaJuly 2, 1922 · 37 km W of this epicenter
- 6.768 km SSE of King Cove, AlaskaApril 29, 1937 · 78 km W of this epicenter
- 6.6128 km SE of Chignik, AlaskaJuly 28, 1934 · 267 km E of this epicenter
- 6.6291 km S of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 13, 1910 · 231 km S of this epicenter
- 6.672 km SE of Sand Point, AlaskaOctober 16, 1932 · 70 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1938M8.2
Alaska
10 Nov 1938 · 166 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 1788M8.0
Alaska Peninsula
6 Aug 1788 · 34 km away
tsunami
- 1820
East Aleutian Islands
1 Mar 1820 · 258 km away
tsunami
- 1868
Alaska Peninsula
15 May 1868 · 34 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.