QuakeScout
Magnitude2.5

Reviewed by USGSAlaska4y ago

M2.5 earthquake 60 km E of Akutan, Alaska

Sunday, March 27, 2022, 06:00:58 UTC · 54.225°N, 164.869°W

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake struck 60 km E of Akutan, Alaska on Sunday, March 27, 2022, 06:00:58 UTC, at a depth of 70.9 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
2.5
Minor · ml
Depth
71 km
Intermediate
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

149 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: intermediate

71 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.7 on April 25, 2022. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M2.5
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.578 km SW of False Pass, Alaska4y ago · 40 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 3.784 km E of Akutan, Alaska4y ago · 31 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 3.562 km E of Akutan, Alaska4y ago · 4 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 2.9Unimak Island region, Alaska4y ago · 9 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 454 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.6The 1946 Unimak Island, Alaska EarthquakeApril 1, 1946 · 156 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.881 km E of Nikolski, AlaskaJuly 2, 1965 · 228 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 7.190 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 14, 1948 · 243 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.139 km S of Akutan, AlaskaMarch 22, 1957 · 77 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.071 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 30, 1991 · 215 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.0203 km SSE of Unalaska, AlaskaAugust 22, 1940 · 234 km S of this epicenter
  7. 6.980 km E of Nikolski, AlaskaMarch 24, 1980 · 232 km SW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 168 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1946M8.6

    Unimak Island

    1 Apr 1946 · 156 km away · intensity VI

    168 deaths$26 million damagetsunami

  2. 1965M6.5

    Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands

    2 Jul 1965 · 221 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1788M8.0

    Alaska Peninsula

    6 Aug 1788 · 264 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1917M7.9

    Alaska Peninsula

    31 May 1917 · 282 km away · intensity V

  5. 1902M7.8

    Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands

    1 Jan 1902 · 268 km away

  6. 1948M7.5

    Alaska Peninsula

    14 May 1948 · 252 km away

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

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