Alaska earthquakes

M4.2 earthquake 25 km NNE of Karluk, Alaska

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 25 km NNE of Karluk, Alaska on Wed, Jun 21, 2017, 9:44 AM AKDT (17:44 UTC), 56 km (35 mi) below the surface.

Womens Bay forecast More in Alaska

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 4.2 (ML, local (Richter)), light
Magnitude from: Alaska Earthquake Center
Local time: Wed, Jun 21, 2017, 9:44 AM AKDT
UTC: 2017-06-21 17:44:31 UTC
Depth: 56.2 km (34.9 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 57.792° N, 154.329° W
Region: Alaska
Felt reports: 1
Strongest shaking: III, weak shaking
PAGER alert: Green
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
4.2	ML, local (Richter)	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preferred · Preliminary
4.4	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Reviewed · ±0.045 · 48 stations
4.2	ML, local (Richter)	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 17 stations

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Also felt at Eagle River.

From the USGS event page for ak0177wqtk6w. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

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.

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: III, weak shaking
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was II, weak shaking.

Estimated impact

The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.

Alert level: Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected

Deaths: estimated chance of each range
Range	Chance
Under 1	69%
1 to 10	29%
10 to 100	2%
100 to 1,000	Under 1%
1,000 to 10,000	Under 1%
10,000 to 100,000	Under 1%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

Economic losses: estimated chance of each range
Range, million USD	Chance
Under 1	65%
1 to 10	30%
10 to 100	4%
100 to 1,000	Under 1%
1,000 to 10,000	Under 1%
10,000 to 100,000	Under 1%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

Fault motion and ground failure

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

Faulting: Normal
Moment magnitude: 4.4 Mwr
Nodal plane 1: Strike 231°, dip 76°, rake -80°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 15°, dip 17°, rake -125°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Stations used: 212

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 92 in the 60 days after this one and 55 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 92.

Before

Earthquakes today Alaska earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ak0177wqtk6w (also filed as ak16210690, us20009nw6, at00orwry7). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 1:34 AM UTC.