Alaska earthquakes

M5.2 earthquake 85 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 85 km SSE of Sand Point, Alaska on Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 6:09 PM AKDT (02:09 UTC), 35 km (22 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.2 91 km SSE 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: 5.2 (Mwr, regional moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 6:09 PM AKDT
UTC: 2025-07-17 02:09:43 UTC
Depth: 35.0 km (21.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 54.616° N, 160.036° W
Region: Alaska
Felt reports: 1
Strongest shaking: IV, light shaking
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
5.2	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.045 · 48 stations
5.2	Mwr, regional moment	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preliminary
5.3	ML, local (Richter)	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 29 stations

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: IV, light shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 2.2% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 1.2 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.

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: 5.2 Mwr
Nodal plane 1: Strike 339°, dip 72°, rake 113°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 105°, dip 28°, rake 39°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.9 km horizontally, 1.9 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.04
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 66°
Stations used: 125

Nearest places

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

Sand Point, AlaskaPopulation 1,064. Forecast85 kmSSE

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: at least 200 in the 60 days after this one and at least 200 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of at least 200.

Before

Earthquakes today Alaska earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000qd49 (also filed as ak02593hnlto, at00sziu07). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC.