Alaska earthquakes

M5.3 earthquake 163 km ESE of Nikolski, Alaska

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 163 km ESE of Nikolski, Alaska on Wed, May 24, 2017, 8:07 AM AKDT (16:07 UTC), 11 km (7 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.9 163 km ESE of Nikolski, Alaska. This one was a foreshock.

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Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.3 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, May 24, 2017, 8:07 AM AKDT
UTC: 2017-05-24 16:07:03 UTC
Depth: 10.5 km (6.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 52.322° N, 166.665° 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	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.046 · 46 stations
5.25	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.3	Mw, moment	Alaska Earthquake Center	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: Normal
Moment magnitude: 5.3 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 243°, dip 24°, rake -107°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 81°, dip 67°, rake -83°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 4.9 km horizontally, 3.5 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.05
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 118°
Stations used: 183

Nearest places

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

Unalaska, AlaskaPopulation 4,491. Forecast173 kmS

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 25 in the 60 days after this one and 3 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 us10008uve (also filed as ak16124175, ak0176meyf8v, iscgem611833966). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 5:36 PM UTC.