Reviewed by USGSAlaska2y ago
M2.8 earthquake 60 km NE of King Cove, Alaska
Friday, February 16, 2024, 19:53:07 UTC · 55.484°N, 161.716°W
A magnitude 2.8 earthquake struck 60 km NE of King Cove, Alaska on Friday, February 16, 2024, 19:53:07 UTC, at a depth of 124.6 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 2.8
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 125 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
239 kg of TNT
That is about 1/63,000 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1,995 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
212 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
125 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.5 on March 4, 2024. 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 380 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 · 233 km S of this epicenter
- 8.21938 Semidi Islands, Alaska EarthquakeNovember 10, 1938 · 226 km E of this epicenter
- 8.22021 Chignik, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 29, 2021 · 242 km E of this epicenter
- 7.82020 Perryville, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 22, 2020 · 203 km E of this epicenter
- 7.62020 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeOctober 19, 2020 · 165 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.454 km SE of Sand Point, AlaskaMay 31, 1917 · 128 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.22023 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeJuly 16, 2023 · 136 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.190 km SE of King Cove, AlaskaMay 14, 1948 · 105 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 169 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1946M8.6
Unimak Island
1 Apr 1946 · 233 km away · intensity VI
168 deaths$26 million damagetsunami
- 2023M7.2
Alaska Peninsula
16 Jul 2023 · 129 km away · intensity VI
1 deathtsunami
- 2020M7.8
Alaska
22 Jul 2020 · 203 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1938M8.2
Alaska
10 Nov 1938 · 211 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 2021M8.2
Alaska Peninsula
29 Jul 2021 · 245 km away · intensity VIII
tsunami
- 1788M8.0
Alaska Peninsula
6 Aug 1788 · 70 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.