Alaska earthquakes

M5.3 earthquake 280 km WSW of Adak, Alaska

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 280 km WSW of Adak, Alaska on Wed, Mar 26, 1997, 11:21 PM GMT+12 (11:21 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.6 288 km WSW of Adak, Alaska. This one was a foreshock.

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.3 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, Mar 26, 1997, 11:21 PM GMT+12
UTC: 1997-03-26 11:21:36 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 51.209° N, 179.463° E
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
5.3	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.25	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.2	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Oblique reverse
Nodal plane 1: Strike 263°, dip 34°, rake 127°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 40°, dip 64°, rake 68°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 34 in the 60 days after this one and 13 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 usp0007zf8 (also filed as gcmtb032697d, gcmt19970326112136, iscgem1018375). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 6:50 PM UTC.