Reviewed by USGSAlaska30y ago
M4.3 earthquake 47 km WSW of Adak, Alaska
Monday, January 6, 1997, 00:53:14 UTC · 51.661°N, 177.234°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 47 km WSW of Adak, Alaska on Monday, January 6, 1997, 00:53:14 UTC, at a depth of 60.2 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 60 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
128 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: shallow
60 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 851 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.71965 Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) EarthquakeFebruary 4, 1965 · 284 km W of this epicenter
- 8.61957 Atka, Alaska EarthquakeMarch 9, 1957 · 113 km E of this epicenter
- 8.01986 Atka, Alaska EarthquakeMay 7, 1986 · 171 km E of this epicenter
- 7.977 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaJune 10, 1996 · 30 km W of this epicenter
- 7.65 km WNW of Adak, AlaskaFebruary 14, 1905 · 45 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.4265 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaFebruary 4, 1965 · 221 km W of this epicenter
- 7.388 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaJuly 7, 1929 · 41 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.346 km SSW of Adak, AlaskaJune 10, 1996 · 34 km SE 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 2 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1957M8.6
Alaska
9 Mar 1957 · 113 km away
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1986M8.0
Aleutian Islands: Adak
7 May 1986 · 171 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1965M8.7
Aleutian Islands: Rat Islands
4 Feb 1965 · 284 km away · intensity VI
Under $1 million damagetsunami
- 1905M7.9
Andreanof Islands
14 Feb 1905 · 138 km away
- 1996M7.9
Andreanof Islands
10 Jun 1996 · 30 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 1996M7.3
Andreanof Islands
10 Jun 1996 · 34 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.