Reviewed by USGS4y ago
M2.7 earthquake south of Alaska
Tuesday, July 19, 2022, 04:01:02 UTC · 52.462°N, 164.083°W
A magnitude 2.7 earthquake struck south of Alaska on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, 04:01:02 UTC, at a depth of 18.9 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.7
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 19 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
169 kg of TNT
That is about 1/88,990 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2,818 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
51 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
19 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 M2.9 on August 9, 2022. 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 444 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 · 142 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.881 km E of Nikolski, AlaskaJuly 2, 1965 · 248 km W of this epicenter
- 7.139 km S of Akutan, AlaskaMarch 22, 1957 · 185 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.071 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 30, 1991 · 286 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0203 km SSE of Unalaska, AlaskaAugust 22, 1940 · 102 km W of this epicenter
- 6.980 km E of Nikolski, AlaskaMarch 24, 1980 · 248 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 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 · 142 km away · intensity VI
168 deaths$26 million damagetsunami
- 1965M6.5
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
2 Jul 1965 · 242 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1902M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
1 Jan 1902 · 232 km away
- 1957M7.5
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
22 Mar 1957 · 292 km away · intensity V
- 1820
East Aleutian Islands
1 Mar 1820 · 232 km away
tsunami
- 1878
East Aleutian Islands
29 Aug 1878 · 200 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.