QuakeScout
Magnitude3.5

Reviewed by USGSAlaska4y ago

M3.5 earthquake 73 km SE of Akutan, Alaska

Friday, September 2, 2022, 13:26:30 UTC · 53.604°N, 165.110°W

A magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck 73 km SE of Akutan, Alaska on Friday, September 2, 2022, 13:26:30 UTC, at a depth of 43.7 km (shallow).

Magnitude
3.5
Minor · ml
Depth
44 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

3 tons of TNT

That is about 1/5,615 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 178 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

92 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 50 km

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

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M3.5
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 2.788 km ESE of Akutan, Alaska4y ago · 32 km E of this epicenter
  2. 3.070 km SE of Akutan, Alaska4y ago · 8 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 3.665 km SE of Unalaska, Alaska4y ago · 48 km W of this epicenter
  4. 3.768 km SSE of Akutan, Alaska4y ago · 24 km W of this epicenter
  5. 3.476 km SSE of Akutan, Alaska4y ago · 20 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 563 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 · 151 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.881 km E of Nikolski, AlaskaJuly 2, 1965 · 181 km W of this epicenter
  3. 7.190 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 14, 1948 · 280 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.139 km S of Akutan, AlaskaMarch 22, 1957 · 48 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 7.135 km SW of Nikolski, AlaskaMarch 11, 1957 · 290 km W of this epicenter
  6. 7.071 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 30, 1991 · 252 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.0203 km SSE of Unalaska, AlaskaAugust 22, 1940 · 163 km S 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 · 151 km away · intensity VI

    168 deaths$26 million damagetsunami

  2. 1965M6.5

    Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands

    2 Jul 1965 · 174 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1917M7.9

    Alaska Peninsula

    31 May 1917 · 292 km away · intensity V

  4. 1902M7.8

    Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands

    1 Jan 1902 · 209 km away

  5. 1948M7.5

    Alaska Peninsula

    14 May 1948 · 286 km away

  6. 1957M7.5

    Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands

    22 Mar 1957 · 155 km away · intensity V

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

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