Alaska earthquakes

M5.8 earthquake 241 km ESE of Atka, Alaska

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 241 km ESE of Atka, Alaska on Sun, Aug 16, 2020, 11:05 AM HADT (20:05 UTC), 18 km (11 mi) below the surface.

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.8 (mww), moderate
Local time: Sun, Aug 16, 2020, 11:05 AM HADT
UTC: 2020-08-16 20:05:50 UTC
Depth: 18.0 km (11.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 51.214° N, 171.088° 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

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
Peak ground acceleration: 0.7% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: -0.6 cm/s
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: Reverse (thrust)
Moment magnitude: 5.8 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 271°, dip 15°, rake 117°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 63°, dip 76°, rake 83°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 6.5 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.04
Depth from: From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
Station coverage gap: 69°
Stations used: 317

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.8 and up: 15 in the 60 days after this one and 12 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 us6000bfpw (also filed as at00qf6ahx, pt20229000, ak020aj20c11, iscgem618728048). Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 2:45 AM UTC.