Alaska earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake 126 km SE of Akutan, Alaska

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 126 km SE of Akutan, Alaska on Tue, May 23, 2017, 10:35 PM AKDT (06:35 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

Akutan forecast More in Alaska

Map

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

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.1 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, May 23, 2017, 10:35 PM AKDT
UTC: 2017-05-24 06:35:17 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 53.307° N, 164.454° W
Region: Alaska
Felt reports: 1
Tsunami flag: Yes: a large quake in an oceanic region
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	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.073 · 18 stations
5.2	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.2	Mw, moment	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preliminary
5.0	Mi	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 7 stations
5.2	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

Tsunami

The USGS flags a quake this large in an oceanic region. The flag does not mean a tsunami happened; the tsunami warning centers decide that, and their messages are below when they issued any.

Current tsunami warnings: tsunami.gov. Warnings in force in the US also appear on our alerts pages.

Did you feel it?

1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was I, not felt shaking.

Fault motion and ground failure

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

Faulting: Reverse (thrust)
Moment magnitude: 5.1 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 242°, dip 34°, rake 94°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 58°, dip 56°, rake 87°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.6 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.07
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 132°
Stations used: 195

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Akutan, AlaskaPopulation 1,040. Forecast127 kmSE

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 79 in the 60 days after this one and 30 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 79.

Before

Earthquakes today Alaska earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10008usi (also filed as ak16119701, at00oqg2aw, ak0176m9646l, iscgem611833976). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 9:54 AM UTC.