Alaska earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake 85 km SSE of Atka, Alaska

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 85 km SSE of Atka, Alaska on Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 12:38 AM HADT (09:38 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.0 75 km S of Atka, 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: 5.1 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 12:38 AM HADT
UTC: 2016-03-18 09:38:06 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 51.546° N, 173.542° 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
5.1	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.025 · 522 stations
5.16	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.1	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.

Location uncertainty: About 2.2 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.03
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 96°
Stations used: 524

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 151 in the 60 days after this one and 98 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 151.

Before

Earthquakes today Alaska earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us20005apm (also filed as ak0163l5i4uk, ak12995948, iscgem608490476). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC.