Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 55 mi southeast of Akutan, Aleutians East County, Alaska, USA, on Wednesday, 4 Nov 2020 3:23 am (GMT -9) -
Quake Data | Interactive map | User Reports | Aftershocks | Earlier quakes in same area | Quakes in the US | Alaska | Washington, D.C.

Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 44 km depth
4 Nov 12:43 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 19 minutes.
4 Nov 12:43: Now using data updates from USGS
4 Nov 12:43: Now using data updates from USGS
Update Wed, 4 Nov 2020, 12:45
Significant magnitude 5.0 earthquake 73 miles southeast of Akutan, Alaska
5.0 quake 55 mi SE of Akutan 4 Nov 3.23 am (GMT -9)
Just 21 minutes ago, a 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck near the town of Akutan, Alaska. The tremor was recorded early morning on Wednesday 4 November 2020 at 3.23 am local time, at a moderately shallow depth of 27 miles below the surface.
The event was filed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first seismological agency to report it.
Our monitoring service at VolcanoDiscovery identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.0 as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Akutan (pop. 1000) located 55 miles from the epicenter, Unalaska (pop. 4,500) 73 miles away, and Dutch Harbor (pop. 4,400) 74 miles away.
This story will be updated soon by VolcanoDiscovery. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
The event was filed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first seismological agency to report it.
Our monitoring service at VolcanoDiscovery identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.0 as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Akutan (pop. 1000) located 55 miles from the epicenter, Unalaska (pop. 4,500) 73 miles away, and Dutch Harbor (pop. 4,400) 74 miles away.
This story will be updated soon by VolcanoDiscovery. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
Earthquake data:
Local time at epicenter: Wednesday, 4 Nov 2020 3:23 am (GMT -9)
Magnitude: 5
Depth: 43.8 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 53.578°N / 164.8189°W

Nearest volcano: Akutan (98 km / 61 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
88 km (55 mi) SE of Akutan (pop: 1,040) --> See nearby quakes!
118 km (73 mi) ESE of Unalaska (pop: 4,490) --> See nearby quakes!
169 km (105 mi) SSW of False Pass (pop: 40) --> See nearby quakes!
225 km (140 mi) SW of Cold Bay (pop: 123) --> See nearby quakes!
231 km (144 mi) SW of King Cove (pop: 1,010) --> See nearby quakes!
278 km (173 mi) ENE of Nikolski (pop: 18) --> See nearby quakes!
341 km (212 mi) SW of Sand Point (pop: 1,060) --> See nearby quakes!
355 km (221 mi) SW of Nelson Lagoon (pop: 52) --> See nearby quakes!
6502 km (4040 mi) NW of Washington (pop: 601,700) --> See nearby quakes!
6502 km (4040 mi) NW of Washington DC (pop: 601,700) --> See nearby quakes!
60 km (37 mi) SSE of Tigalda Island --> See nearby quakes!
134 km (83 mi) E of Peter Island --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds
5.5°C (42 F), humidity: 71%, wind: 14 m/s (26 kts) from NNW
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Overcast Clouds

Estimated released energy: 2 x 1012 joules (554 megawatt hours, equivalent to 477 tons of TNT) 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 5.0 | 44 km | UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA, USA | USGS |
M 5.0 | 46 km | 88 Km SE of Akutan, Alaska, USA | EMSC |
M 5.0 | 19 km | Unimak Island Region, Alaska, USA | GeoAu |
M 5.0 | 39 km | Unimak Island Region, Alaska, USA | GFZ |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
be the first to report it!
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it Aftershocks of the 5.0 quake North Pacific Ocean, 55 mi southeast of Akutan, Aleutians East County, Alaska, USA, 4 Nov 2020 3:23 am (GMT -9)
More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (2 quakes):- 21 Nov 2020 17:44 UTC| M 2.2 |44.8 km (27.8 mi) depth|6 km (4 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 21 Nov 2020 17:44 UTC| M 2.6 |30.9 km (19.2 mi) depth|10 km (6 mi) distance| USGS | Details
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 55 mi southeast of Akutan, Aleutians East County, Alaska, USA, on Wednesday, 4 Nov 2020 3:23 am (GMT -9)- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 01 Apr 1946 12:29| 8.6 |15km / 9.3mi|75 years ago|132km / 82mi| 1946 Aleutian Islands (Unimak Island) Earthquake, Alaska (USA)
- 02 Jul 1965 20:58| 7.8 |45km / 28mi|56 years ago|205km / 127mi| Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA)
- 22 Mar 1957 14:21| 7.1 |47km / 29mi|64 years ago|67km / 41mi| Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA)
- 27 Jul 1944 00:04| 7.1 |70km / 43mi|77 years ago|65km / 40mi| Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA)
- 30 May 1991 13:17| 7.0 |28km / 18mi|30 years ago|237km / 147mi| Alaska Peninsula (USA)
- 01 Jan 1902 05:20| 7.0 |unknown|119 years ago|221km / 137mi| Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA)
- 09 Sep 1942 01:25| 6.9 |80km / 50mi|78 years ago|72km / 45mi| Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA)
- 22 Aug 1940 03:27| 6.9 |15km / 9.3mi|80 years ago|146km / 91mi| South of the Aleutian Islands (USA)
- 29 Mar 1957 05:10| 6.8 |25km / 16mi|64 years ago|144km / 90mi| Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA)
- 19 Feb 2003 03:32| 6.6 |19km / 11.8mi|18 years ago|14km / 9mi| Unimak Island Region, Alaska (USA)
Hint: Click on Date/Time to show latest first
Show all