M5.1 earthquake in Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Sunday, May 31, 2015, 18:07:50 UTC · 51.249°N, 178.156°E

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska on Sunday, May 31, 2015, 18:07:50 UTC, at a depth of 44.4 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on March 27, 2015.

Tsunami flagUSGS sets this flag for large events in oceanic regions so tsunami warning centers review them. It does not by itself mean a tsunami occurred. Check tsunami.gov and local authorities for official messages.

Magnitude: 5.1; Moderate · mb
Depth: 44 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Max intensity I
Est. shaking: —; No ShakeMap
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: Flag; Check tsunami.gov

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

674 tons of TNT

That is about 1/22 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

65 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

44 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 lists 22 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.0 on June 18, 2015. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 889 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 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1965M8.7
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
4 Feb 1965 · 39 km away · intensity VI
Under $1 million damagetsunami
1906M8.3
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
17 Aug 1906 · 67 km away
1905M7.9
Andreanof Islands
14 Feb 1905 · 238 km away
1996M7.9
Andreanof Islands
10 Jun 1996 · 294 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
2014M7.9
Aleutian Islands
23 Jun 2014 · 78 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
1909M7.8
Aleutian Islands
10 Apr 1909 · 233 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers