Reviewed by USGSAlaska4mo ago
M2.5 earthquake 97 km S of King Cove, Alaska
Thursday, May 14, 2026, 03:13:44 UTC · 54.182°N, 162.315°W
A magnitude 2.5 earthquake struck 97 km S of King Cove, Alaska on Thursday, May 14, 2026, 03:13:44 UTC, at a depth of 4.4 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.5
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 4 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 kg of TNT
That is about 1/177,558 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 5,623 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
84 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
4 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 50 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M2.7 on June 12, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 416 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.6The 1946 Unimak Island, Alaska EarthquakeApril 1, 1946 · 84 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.21938 Semidi Islands, Alaska EarthquakeNovember 10, 1938 · 288 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.82020 Perryville, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 22, 2020 · 259 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.62020 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeOctober 19, 2020 · 180 km E of this epicenter
- 7.454 km SE of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 31, 1917 · 181 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.32025 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 16, 2025 · 127 km E of this epicenter
- 7.22023 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 16, 2023 · 103 km E of this epicenter
- 7.190 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 14, 1948 · 88 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 169 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1946M8.6
Unimak Island
1 Apr 1946 · 84 km away · intensity VI
168 deaths$26 million damagetsunami
- 2023M7.2
Alaska Peninsula
16 Jul 2023 · 105 km away · intensity VI
1 deathtsunami
- 2020M7.8
Alaska
22 Jul 2020 · 259 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1938M8.2
Alaska
10 Nov 1938 · 291 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 1788M8.0
Alaska Peninsula
6 Aug 1788 · 124 km away
tsunami
- 2020M7.6
Alaska
19 Oct 2020 · 180 km away · intensity IX
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.