Alaska earthquakes

M5.3 earthquake 69 km W of Karluk, Alaska

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 69 km W of Karluk, Alaska on Thu, May 10, 2018, 8:58 PM AKDT (04:58 UTC), 63 km (39 mi) below the surface.

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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 (Mw, moment), moderate
Magnitude from: Alaska Earthquake Center
Local time: Thu, May 10, 2018, 8:58 PM AKDT
UTC: 2018-05-11 04:58:24 UTC
Depth: 63.2 km (39.3 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 57.470° N, 155.593° W
Region: Alaska
Felt reports: 16
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
5.3	Mw, moment	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preferred · Preliminary
5.3	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Reviewed · ±0.041 · 56 stations
5.2	ML, local (Richter)	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 33 stations
5.33	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.3	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed
5.3	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

What happened

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

Also felt at Ouzinkie.

From the USGS event page for ak01860q4oj4. 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.

Did you feel it?

16 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was III, weak shaking.

Fault motion and ground failure

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

Faulting: Strike-slip
Moment magnitude: 5.3 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 345°, dip 73°, rake 172°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 78°, dip 82°, rake 17°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Stations used: 261

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 19 in the 60 days after this one and 18 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 ak01860q4oj4 (also filed as ak19433436, at00p8jshb, us1000e2lp, iscgem611933380). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 5:58 AM UTC.