Reviewed by USGSAlaska113y ago
M6.5 earthquake 56 km E of Adak, Alaska
Friday, July 17, 1914, 07:07:01 UTC · 51.871°N, 175.809°W
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 56 km E of Adak, Alaska on Friday, July 17, 1914, 07:07:01 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on June 22, 1913.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
88 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 184 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
125 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 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 11 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.65 km WNW of Adak, AlaskaFebruary 14, 1905 · 61 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2238 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaMarch 22, 1905 · 292 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0101 km S of Adak, AlaskaSeptember 9, 1910 · 106 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9182 km SSE of Atka, AlaskaJanuary 27, 1906 · 240 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.9203 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaMarch 31, 1913 · 258 km W of this epicenter
- 6.9216 km SSE of Adak, AlaskaSeptember 17, 1911 · 198 km S of this epicenter
- 6.8Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaJune 22, 1913 · 288 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1905M7.9
Andreanof Islands
14 Feb 1905 · 229 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.