Alaska earthquakes

M5.0 earthquake 115 km SSW of Atka, Alaska

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 115 km SSW of Atka, Alaska on Sun, May 17, 1981, 4:40 PM GMT-10 (02:40 UTC), 37 km (23 mi) below the surface.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
5.0 (ms), moderate
Local time
UTC
1981-05-18 02:40:10 UTC
Depth
37.0 km (23.0 mi), shallow
Epicenter
51.299° N, 175.033° W
Region
Alaska
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from
CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 11 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 4.395 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 16563 days ago · 33 km deep · 45 km away
  2. 4.3149 km SSW of Atka, Alaska · 16563 days ago · 51 km deep · 39 km away
  3. 4.783 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 16563 days ago · 44 km deep · 40 km away
  4. 3.9115 km SSW of Atka, Alaska · 16563 days ago · 33 km deep · 24 km away
  5. 4.371 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 16563 days ago · 52 km deep · 53 km away
  6. 4.587 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 16563 days ago · 47 km deep · 35 km away
  7. 4.696 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 16562 days ago · 48 km deep · 22 km away
  8. 4.494 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 16561 days ago · 43 km deep · 23 km away
  9. 4.988 km SSW of Atka, Alaska · 16505 days ago · 41 km deep · 27 km away
  10. 5.0100 km SSW of Atka, Alaska · 16505 days ago · 39 km deep · 19 km away
  11. 5.0103 km SSW of Atka, Alaska · 16505 days ago · 36 km deep · 16 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001dr1 (also filed as gcmtb051881a, gcmt19810518024010, iscgem626803). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 4:34 AM UTC.