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Earthquakes Near Me / Alaska

Alaska Earthquakes: Recent Quakes and the Largest on Record

Alaska averages 5,039 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more a year (2016 to 2025), and the largest in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M9.2 of March 28, 1964, the Prince William Sound, Alaska Earthquake.

Live from the USGS

Earthquakes near Anchorage in the last 30 days

Every quake within 155 miles of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, newest first. For your own address, enter a ZIP code.

Within
Magnitude
Reading the USGS earthquake catalog for magnitude 1.5 and up within 155 miles of Anchorage.

Live from the USGS earthquake catalog. Times are Alaska time; felt reports and the shaking level come from Did You Feel It? A new quake can take a few minutes to appear and its magnitude can be revised.

Alaska by the numbers

USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026
5,039
Quakes of M2.5+ a year
the average, 2016 to 2025
1st
Rank of 50 states
by quakes of M2.5+ a year
M9.2
Largest since 1900
March 28, 1964
2,489
M3+ in 2026
through October 10, 2026

Alaska averages 5,039 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more a year, counting 50,389 from 2016 to 2025, which ranks it 1st of the fifty states.

Since 1990

Alaska earthquakes by year

The USGS catalog lists 52,607 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more in Alaska from 1990 to 2025, the most in 2020 (2,760). 2016 to 2025: 21,955; 2006 to 2015: 15,871.

Magnitude 3 and up in Alaska, 1990 to 2025; the tallest bar is 2,760. From the USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026.
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Since 1900

The 10 largest earthquakes in Alaska

The largest earthquake in Alaska in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M9.2 of March 28, 1964, the Prince William Sound, Alaska Earthquake. The most recent of magnitude 4 or more was the M4.0 of October 8, 2026, 247 km ESE of Attu Station, Alaska (offshore).

  1. 1M9.2
    The 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska EarthquakeMarch 28, 1964, 16 mi (25 km) deep
  2. 2M8.3
    1906 Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906, 68 mi (110 km) deep
  3. 3M7.9
    77 km WSW of Adak, Alaska (offshore)June 10, 1996, 21 mi (33 km) deep
  4. 4M7.9
    2002 Denali Fault, Alaska EarthquakeNovember 3, 2002, 2.6 mi (4 km) deep
  5. 5M7.9
    Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaJune 23, 2014, 68 mi (109 km) deep
  6. 6M7.9
    Kodiak Island region, AlaskaOctober 9, 1900, 12 mi (20 km) deep
  7. 7M7.9
    93 km NW of Attu Station, Alaska (offshore)December 17, 1929, 12 mi (20 km) deep
  8. 8M7.8
    22 km W of Elfin Cove, AlaskaJuly 10, 1958, 6.2 mi (10 km) deep
  9. 9M7.8
    81 km E of Nikolski, Alaska (offshore)July 2, 1965, 24 mi (39 km) deep
  10. 10M7.8
    Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, AlaskaNovember 17, 2003, 21 mi (33 km) deep

From the USGS ComCat catalog, every magnitude since 1900, read October 10, 2026. Offshore quakes count when USGS names Alaska in the place and the quake is within 150 km of its coast. Each place links to the quake’s USGS page.

The faults

Fault zones in Alaska

  • Alaska-Aleutian Megathrust
  • Fairweather/Queen Charlotte fault system
  • Denali fault
“The Fairweather/Queen Charlotte fault system in southeast Alaska (more than 620 miles long) is the primary strike-slip structure that accommodates this ongoing subduction from the south.”

Named by the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, read October 9, 2026.

When it shakes

What to do in an earthquake

  1. 1

    Drop

    Drop where you are onto hands and knees.

  2. 2

    Cover

    Cover your head and neck with one arm and hand. If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath it for shelter. If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall (away from windows). Stay on your knees; bend over to protect vital organs.

  3. 3

    Hold On

    Hold until the shaking stops. If under shelter, hold on with one hand and be ready to move with it when the shelter moves. If not under shelter, hold on to your head and neck with both arms and hands.

Ready.gov’s words, from Ready.gov: Earthquakes (updated Sep 9, 2026, read October 9, 2026). Practice it with The Great ShakeOut: Earthquake Drills.

A seismograph drum wrapped in paper with rows of ink traces, the pen drawing a new line as the drum turns
A seismogram being recorded by a seismograph at the Weston Observatory in Massachusetts. “Seismogram at Weston Observatory” by Z22, CC BY-SA 3.0
Questions

Alaska earthquake questions

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Other states

Earthquakes in every state

Earthquakes near any ZIP code

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Sources. The live list: the USGS FDSN event service. Alaska’s counts and largest quakes: the USGS ComCat catalog, read October 10, 2026, counted inside the state’s Census boundary and within 150 km of its coast where USGS names the state. Anchorage: the state’s most populous city in the Census Vintage 2024 estimates. Older years hold fewer small quakes because fewer instruments were listening.

Hero photograph: the San Andreas Fault across the Carrizo Plain. “Kluft-photo-Carrizo-Plain-Nov-2007-Img 0327” by Ikluft, CC BY-SA 4.0