Alaska earthquakes

M5.8 earthquake 142 km WSW of Adak, Alaska

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 142 km WSW of Adak, Alaska on Fri, Jan 18, 1980, 8:02 PM GMT-11 (07:02 UTC), 50 km (31 mi) below the surface.

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.8 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Fri, Jan 18, 1980, 8:02 PM GMT-11
UTC: 1980-01-19 07:02:35 UTC
Depth: 50.0 km (31.1 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 51.317° N, 178.488° W
Region: Alaska
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.8	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
6.01	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.7	Ms, surface-wave	USGS historic United States catalog	Final
6.0	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Maximum observed Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) I

From the USGS event page for usp000152c. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Stations used: 268

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.8 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Alaska earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000152c (also filed as gcmtb011980a, ushis3553, gcmt19800119070235, iscgem652909). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 11:49 AM UTC.