May 31, 2024 07:57:51 AKDT (May 31, 2024 15:57:51 UTC)
62.4658°N 148.2072°W Depth 25.6 miles (41 km)
This event has not been reviewed by a seismologist.
- 60 miles (97 km) NE of Hatcher Pass
- 62 miles (100 km) east of Talkeetna
- 67 miles (108 km) NE of Palmer
- 68 miles (110 km) south of Cantwell
- 73 miles (118 km) NE of Wasilla
- 77 miles (124 km) NE of Willow
- 78 miles (126 km) south of Denali Park
- 85 miles (137 km) NE of Chugiak
- 89 miles (144 km) W of Glennallen
- 91 miles (147 km) NE of Eagle River
- 91 miles (147 km) W of Pumping Station No. 11
- 102 miles (165 km) NE of Anchorage
- 164 miles (265 km) south of Fairbanks
- Magnitude type: Ml2
- Event type: earthquake
Tectonic setting of southern Alaska
Earthquakes in south central Alaska are produced by a number of different tectonic features. (1) The strongest earthquakes in south central Alaska are generated by the megathrust fault that marks the contact zone between the Pacific subduction and the overlying North American plates. The magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, still the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the world, originated in Prince William Sound. (2) Intermediate depth seismicity (below 20 miles/32 km) occurs in the Wadati-Benioff zone, where the subducting Pacific plate descends into the mantle beneath the North American plate. This area extends along the Aleutian Arc, the Alaska Peninsula, and Cook Inlet and ends below the northern foothills of the Alaska Range. In southern and central Alaska, this seismicity decreases to a depth of approximately 140 miles (225 km), reflecting the downward extension of the Pacific Plate. The 2016 M7.1 Iniskin and 2018 M7.1 Anchorage earthquakes are the most recent notable intermediate-depth events. Both produced major earthquakes in the south-central region and caused structural damage to buildings and infrastructure. (3) Crustal seismicity in this region can be attributed to three main sources: the faults and folds of the Cook Inlet basin, the Castle Mountain fault, and the broad band of diffuse seismicity extending from northern Cook Inlet to the Denali Fault. The geological structures mapped at the top of Cook Inlet are capable of generating strong earthquakes. The magnitude 6.9 earthquake of April 1933, which caused considerable damage in Anchorage, appears to have occurred in such a structure. The Castle Mountain fault, which passes 40 km (25 mi) north of Anchorage, exhibits geologic evidence of Holocene offsets and generated the 1984 M5.6 Sutton earthquake. The diffuse zone of seismicity between Cook Inlet and the fault Denali may mark a deformation zone between the Bering Microplate to the west and the Southern Alaska Block to the east. This broad zone of seismicity includes a series of predominantly thrust faults, and a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 1943 may have originated in this band.
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