Alaska earthquakes

M5.6 earthquake 122 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 122 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska on Tue, Jul 21, 2020, 10:20 PM AKDT (06:20 UTC), 25 km (15 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.7 76 km ESE of Sand Point, Alaska. This one was a foreshock.

Sand Point 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: 5.6 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Jul 21, 2020, 10:20 PM AKDT
UTC: 2020-07-22 06:20:07 UTC
Depth: 24.6 km (15.3 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 54.746° N, 158.875° W
Region: Alaska
Felt reports: 1
Strongest shaking: IV, light shaking
PAGER alert: Green
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
5.6	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.14 · 18 stations
5.55	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.31
5.2	ML, local (Richter)	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preliminary

Shaking

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

Strongest estimated: IV, light shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 2.2% 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 III, 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.

Landslide alert: Green
Liquefaction alert: Green

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.4 km horizontally, 1.7 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.14
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 167°
Stations used: 85

Nearest places

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

Sand Point, AlaskaPopulation 1,064. Forecast123 kmESE

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.6 and up: at least 199 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of at least 199.

Before

Earthquakes today Alaska earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000aswr (also filed as ak0209dhbpcm, iscgem618688614). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 7:56 PM UTC.