M3.1 earthquake 6 km NNE of Houston, Alaska

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck 6 km NNE of Houston, Alaska on Thu, Apr 9, 2020, 11:54 PM AKDT (07:54 UTC), 38 km (24 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M3.8 25 km ESE of Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. This one was a foreshock.

Map

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

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
3.1	ML, local (Richter)	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preferred · Preliminary
3.3	ML, local (Richter)	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Reviewed · ±0.026 · 196 stations

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

8 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was II, weak shaking.

Reviewed by a seismologist.

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

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 198 in the 60 days after this one and 111 in the 30 days before it.

The first 60 of 198.

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ak0204n5roxf (also filed as us70008t31). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 7:23 PM UTC.