QuakeScout
Magnitude3.1

Reviewed by USGSAlaska2y ago

M3.1 earthquake 30 km S of False Pass, Alaska

Thursday, October 19, 2023, 03:31:49 UTC · 54.586°N, 163.466°W

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck 30 km S of False Pass, Alaska on Thursday, October 19, 2023, 03:31:49 UTC, at a depth of 79.0 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
3.1
Minor · ml
Depth
79 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

674 kg of TNT

That is about 1/22,353 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 708 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

150 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

79 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.0 on November 7, 2023. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M31h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M3.1
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.071 km SSW of False Pass, Alaska2y ago · 42 km S of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 418 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 · 128 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.62020 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeOctober 19, 2020 · 247 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.454 km SE of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 31, 1917 · 234 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.22023 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 16, 2023 · 176 km E of this epicenter
  5. 7.190 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 14, 1948 · 149 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.139 km S of Akutan, AlaskaMarch 22, 1957 · 175 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 7.071 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 30, 1991 · 120 km E of this epicenter
  8. 6.917 km S of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 13, 1993 · 203 km E of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 169 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1946M8.6

    Unimak Island

    1 Apr 1946 · 128 km away · intensity VI

    168 deaths$26 million damagetsunami

  2. 2023M7.2

    Alaska Peninsula

    16 Jul 2023 · 175 km away · intensity VI

    1 deathtsunami

  3. 1788M8.0

    Alaska Peninsula

    6 Aug 1788 · 165 km away

    tsunami

  4. 2020M7.6

    Alaska

    19 Oct 2020 · 247 km away · intensity IX

    tsunami

  5. 1948M7.5

    Alaska Peninsula

    14 May 1948 · 159 km away

  6. 1957M7.5

    Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands

    22 Mar 1957 · 120 km away · intensity V

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

Nearby trackers

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