M3.4 earthquake 139 km E of Atka, Alaska

Thursday, September 1, 2011, 01:46:20 UTC · 52.048°N, 172.174°W

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake struck 139 km E of Atka, Alaska on Thursday, September 1, 2011, 01:46:20 UTC, at a depth of 126.9 km (intermediate).

Magnitude: 3.4; Minor · m
Depth: 127 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

2 tons of TNT

That is about 1/7,931 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 251 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

102 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

127 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 159 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.9 on September 2, 2011. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 830 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 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 · 245 km away
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1986M8.0
Aleutian Islands: Adak
7 May 1986 · 188 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1901M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
31 Dec 1901 · 104 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1907M7.8
Aleutian Islands
2 Sep 1907 · 177 km away
1929M7.8
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
7 Mar 1929 · 190 km away · intensity V
tsunami
1916M7.5
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
18 Apr 1916 · 202 km away

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

Nearby trackers