Strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - Alaska Peninsula (USA) on Saturday, 27 January 1979 at 18:57 (GMT)

Strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - Alaska Peninsula (USA) on Saturday, 27 January 1979 at 18:57 (GMT)

Strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake at 17 km depth

Date & time: 27 Jan 1979 18:57:55 UTC
Magnitude: 6
Depth: 17.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 54.768°N / 161.25°W (Alaska, United States)
Nearest volcano: Dutton (79 km / 49 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
76 km (47 mi) ESE of King Cove (pop: 1,010) --> See nearby quakes!
79 km (49 mi) SW of Sand Point (pop: 1,060) --> See nearby quakes!
105 km (65 mi) ESE of Cold Bay (pop: 123) --> See nearby quakes!
137 km (85 mi) S of Nelson Lagoon (pop: 52) --> See nearby quakes!
139 km (86 mi) E of False Pass (pop: 40) --> See nearby quakes!
184 km (114 mi) SW of Perryville (pop: 113) --> See nearby quakes!
301 km (187 mi) ENE of Akutan (pop: 1,040) --> See nearby quakes!
357 km (222 mi) ENE of Unalaska (pop: 4,490) --> See nearby quakes!
6237 km (3875 mi) NW of Washington DC (District of Columbia) (pop: 601,700) --> See nearby quakes!
6237 km (3875 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: 6.3 x 1013 joules (17.5 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 15080 tons of TNT or 0.9 atomic bombs!) More info
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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.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 6.017 kmAlaska Peninsula (USA)USGS
Note: for quakes of 2012 and earlier, our database often contains only records from USGS.

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
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Aftershocks of the 6.0 quake Alaska Peninsula (USA) 27 January 1979 18:57 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (3 quakes):
  • 11 Apr 1979 15:33 UTC
    | M 4.7 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    41 km (26 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 01 Jan 1970 00:00 UTC
    | M |
    0 km (0 mi) depth
    |
    13693 km (8509 mi) distance
    | | Details
  • 01 Jan 1970 00:00 UTC
    | M |
    0 km (0 mi) depth
    |
    13693 km (8509 mi) distance
    | | Details

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - Alaska Peninsula (USA) on Saturday, 27 January 1979 at 18:57 (GMT)
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