M4.6 earthquake 251 km W of Adak, Alaska
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 251 km W of Adak, Alaska on Thu, Dec 10, 1981, 2:26 PM GMT+12 (02:26 UTC), 109 km (68 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.1 Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.6 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-12-10 02:26:23 UTC
- Depth
- 109.1 km (67.8 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 51.883° N, 179.719° E
- Region
- Alaska
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.6 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayAlaska earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001hbk. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 7:06 AM UTC.