Reviewed by USGSAlaska5y ago
M2.9 earthquake 233 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska
Wednesday, June 16, 2021, 00:57:17 UTC · 52.828°N, 162.464°W
A magnitude 2.9 earthquake struck 233 km SSE of False Pass, Alaska on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, 00:57:17 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.9
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 10 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
338 kg of TNT
That is about 1/44,601 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1,413 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
54 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
10 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 369 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 · 78 km N of this epicenter
- 7.62020 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeOctober 19, 2020 · 272 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.454 km SE of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 31, 1917 · 294 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.190 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 14, 1948 · 214 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.139 km S of Akutan, AlaskaMarch 22, 1957 · 244 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.071 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 30, 1991 · 201 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0203 km SSE of Unalaska, AlaskaAugust 22, 1940 · 219 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 168 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1946M8.6
Unimak Island
1 Apr 1946 · 78 km away · intensity VI
168 deaths$26 million damagetsunami
- 1788M8.0
Alaska Peninsula
6 Aug 1788 · 260 km away
tsunami
- 2020M7.6
Alaska
19 Oct 2020 · 272 km away · intensity IX
tsunami
- 1948M7.5
Alaska Peninsula
14 May 1948 · 209 km away
- 1820
East Aleutian Islands
1 Mar 1820 · 237 km away
tsunami
- 1868
Alaska Peninsula
15 May 1868 · 260 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.