Great magnitude 8.6 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 3968 mi northwest of Washington DC, Washington County, District of Columbia, USA, on Monday, 1 April 1946 at 12:29 (GMT)
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Great magnitude 8.6 earthquake at 15 km depth
Magnitude: 8.6
Depth: 15.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 53.492°N / 162.832°W

Nearest volcano: Isanotski (153 km / 95 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
156 km (97 mi) SSE of False Pass (pop: 40) --> See nearby quakes!
178 km (110 mi) S of King Cove (pop: 1,010) --> See nearby quakes!
189 km (117 mi) S of Cold Bay (pop: 123) --> See nearby quakes!
206 km (128 mi) ESE of Akutan (pop: 1,040) --> See nearby quakes!
248 km (154 mi) E of Unalaska (pop: 4,490) --> See nearby quakes!
255 km (158 mi) SW of Sand Point (pop: 1,060) --> See nearby quakes!
298 km (185 mi) SSW of Nelson Lagoon (pop: 52) --> See nearby quakes!
358 km (223 mi) SW of Perryville (pop: 113) --> See nearby quakes!
6385 km (3968 mi) NW of Washington (District of Columbia) (pop: 601,700) --> See nearby quakes!
6385 km (3968 mi) NW of Washington DC (District of Columbia) (pop: 601,700) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 5 x 1017 joules (1.4 x 105 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1.2 x 108 tons of TNT or 7486.7 atomic bombs!) More info
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 8.6 | 15 km | 1946 Aleutian Islands (Unimak Island) Earthquake, Alaska (USA) | USGS |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it Aftershocks of the 8.6 quake North Pacific Ocean, 3968 mi northwest of Washington DC, Washington County, District of Columbia, USA, 1 April 1946 12:29 GMT
More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (29 quakes):- 02 Feb 1949 17:41 UTC| M 6.8 |220 km (136.7 mi) depth|678 km (422 mi) distance| USGS | Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Bering Sea, 4359 mi northwest of Washington DC, Washington County, District of Columbia, USA, on Wednesday, 2 February 1949 at 17:41 (GMT)
- 26 May 1948 09:16 UTC| M 6.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|656 km (408 mi) distance| USGS | Strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - Gulf of Alaska, 22 mi southeast of Sitkinak Island, Kodiak Island County, Alaska, USA, on Wednesday, 26 May 1948 at 09:16 (GMT)
- 17 May 1948 17:48 UTC| M 0.0 |44 km (27.3 mi) depth|213 km (133 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 15 May 1948 02:41 UTC| M 0.0 |48 km (29.8 mi) depth|167 km (104 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 14 May 1948 22:31 UTC| M 7.1 |25 km (15.5 mi) depth|164 km (102 mi) distance| USGS | Major magnitude. 7.1 earthquake - Gulf of Alaska, 41 mi south of Wosnesenski Island, Aleutians East County, Alaska, USA, on Friday, 14 May 1948 at 22:31 (GMT)
- 23 Jan 1947 15:57 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|31 km (19 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 12 Nov 1946 05:56 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|104 km (65 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 01 Nov 1946 11:14 UTC| M 7.0 |25 km (15.5 mi) depth|807 km (502 mi) distance| USGS | Major magnitude. 7.0 earthquake - Bering Sea, 33 mi south of Atka, Aleutians West County, Alaska, USA, on Friday, 1 November 1946 at 11:14 (GMT)
- 30 Oct 1946 07:47 UTC| M 6.5 |30 km (18.6 mi) depth|123 km (77 mi) distance| USGS | Strong mag. 6.5 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 27 mi southeast of Tigalda Island, Aleutians East County, Alaska, USA, on Wednesday, 30 October 1946 at 07:47 (GMT)
- 07 Aug 1946 19:31 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|755 km (469 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 02 Aug 1946 01:37 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|20 km (13 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 12 Jul 1946 21:56 UTC| M 6.8 |100 km (62.1 mi) depth|408 km (254 mi) distance| USGS | Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Bering Sea, 39 mi north of Nikolski, Aleutians West (CA) County, Alaska, USA, on Friday, 12 July 1946 at 21:56 (GMT)
- 03 Jun 1946 13:44 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|583 km (362 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 06 Apr 1946 04:52 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|51 km (32 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 04 Apr 1946 21:25 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|54 km (34 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 04 Apr 1946 16:31 UTC| M 0.0 |0 km (0 mi) depth|22 km (14 mi) distance| USGS | Details
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Earlier earthquakes in the same area
Great magnitude 8.6 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 3968 mi northwest of Washington DC, Washington County, District of Columbia, USA, on Monday, 1 April 1946 at 12:29 (GMT)Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!