Reviewed by USGSAlaska14y ago
M3.0 earthquake 73 km ENE of Adak, Alaska
Friday, March 30, 2012, 05:06:48 UTC · 52.100°N, 175.630°W
A magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck 73 km ENE of Adak, Alaska on Friday, March 30, 2012, 05:06:48 UTC, at a depth of 238.5 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.0
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 239 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
477 kg of TNT
That is about 1/31,575 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1,000 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
147 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
239 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 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 1,024 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.61957 Atka, Alaska EarthquakeMarch 9, 1957 · 67 km S of this epicenter
- 8.01986 Atka, Alaska EarthquakeMay 7, 1986 · 87 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.977 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaJune 10, 1996 · 150 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.65 km WNW of Adak, AlaskaFebruary 14, 1905 · 77 km W of this epicenter
- 7.388 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaJuly 7, 1929 · 161 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.346 km SSW of Adak, AlaskaJune 10, 1996 · 109 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaJune 24, 2011 · 259 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2207 km WSW of Adak, AlaskaDecember 19, 2007 · 279 km W 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 · 67 km away
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1986M8.0
Aleutian Islands: Adak
7 May 1986 · 87 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1905M7.9
Andreanof Islands
14 Feb 1905 · 253 km away
- 1996M7.9
Andreanof Islands
10 Jun 1996 · 150 km away · intensity VI
tsunami
- 1996M7.3
Andreanof Islands
10 Jun 1996 · 109 km away
tsunami
- 2011M7.3
Aleutian Islands: Fox Islands
24 Jun 2011 · 259 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.