EARTHQUAKEM4.6

M4.6 earthquake near Attu Station, Alaska

Map: the earthquake near Attu Station, Alaska, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 121 mi (194 km) southeast of Attu Station, Alaska on Monday, October 12, 2026 at 14:29 UTC, at a depth of 6 mi (10 km), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow quakes like this one shake the surface hardest.

MagnitudeM4.6
Depth6 mi (10 km)
Time (UTC)Oct 12 14:29
Location51.43°N 174.83°E
Nearest townAttu Station · 194 km
Energy120 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+1
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 19 mi (30 km) from the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. Most earthquakes happen along plate boundaries like this one, where the pieces of Earth’s outer shell collide, pull apart or grind past each other. Stress builds up over years until the rock suddenly slips.

The red lines on the map are plate boundaries.

How strong was it?

Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step releases about 32 times more energy. This magnitude 4.6 released roughly the energy of 120 tons of TNT. That is about 7.9 times the energy of a magnitude 4.0, a quake people nearby feel but that rarely causes damage. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 22,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 14 days after it, USGS recorded 1 smaller earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more within 62 mi (100 km). It was a magnitude 3.3 on October 21 at 13:57 UTC.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 100 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:

Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.

See every earthquake on October 12, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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