EARTHQUAKEM3.6

M3.6 earthquake near Knik, Alaska

Map: the earthquake near Knik, Alaska, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck 1 mi (2 km) northwest of Knik, Alaska on Friday, October 16, 2026 at 14:49 UTC, at a depth of 31 mi (50 km), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow quakes like this one shake the surface hardest.

485 people reported feeling it to USGS “Did You Feel It?”.

MagnitudeM3.6
Depth31 mi (50 km)
Time (UTC)Oct 16 14:49
Location61.47°N 149.77°W
Nearest townKnik · 2 km
Energy4 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+6
Tsunami flagNo
Felt reports485
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 206 mi (331 km) from the nearest major plate boundary, which makes it an intraplate earthquake. These happen on old faults inside a plate, where stress from the plate’s slow movement is released. They are less common, but can surprise areas that rarely feel quakes.

The red lines on the map are plate boundaries.

Shaking and impact

The strongest shaking USGS estimates was intensity 4 on the Modified Mercalli scale: light.

How strong was it?

Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step releases about 32 times more energy. This magnitude 3.6 released roughly the energy of 4 tons of TNT. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 710,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 10 days after it, USGS recorded 6 smaller earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 62 mi (100 km). The largest was a magnitude 3.0 on October 16 at 17:24 UTC.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 59 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 16, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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