M5.3 earthquake 70 km SSE of Adak, Alaska
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 70 km SSE of Adak, Alaska on Mon, Nov 2, 1998, 10:27 AM HAST (20:27 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1998-11-02 20:27:53 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 51.289° N, 176.227° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.24 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.2 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt on Adak.
From the USGS event page for usp0008xgx. 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.
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 273°, dip 17°, rake 127°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 55°, dip 77°, rake 80°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.673 km SSE of Adak, Alaska · 10196 days ago · 33 km deep · 6 km away
- 4.077 km SSE of Adak, Alaska · 10196 days ago · 33 km deep · 13 km away
- 5.241 km NE of Adak, Alaska · 10195 days ago · 35 km deep · 90 km away
- 4.324 km SW of Adak, Alaska · 10190 days ago · 58 km deep · 64 km away
- 3.780 km SW of Atka, Alaska · 10189 days ago · 33 km deep · 92 km away
- 3.8Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska · 10147 days ago · 33 km deep · 17 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayAlaska earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0008xgx (also filed as gcmtb110298b, gcmt19981102202753, iscgem1322060). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 8:55 PM UTC.