Alaska earthquakes

M5.0 earthquake 121 km WSW of Adak, Alaska

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 121 km WSW of Adak, Alaska on Sun, Oct 27, 1996, 11:05 PM HAST (09:05 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.4 Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. This one was a foreshock.

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.0 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sun, Oct 27, 1996, 11:05 PM HAST
UTC: 1996-10-28 09:05:52 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 51.431° N, 178.238° 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
5.0	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · 57 stations
5.0	mb, body-wave	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preliminary

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: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 24 in the 60 days after this one and 7 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 usp0007s26 (also filed as ak996dvlowa4). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 11:48 PM UTC.