Moderate magnitude 4.9 earthquake at 4 km depth
14 Sep 05:59 UTC: First to report: USGS after 3 minutes.
14 Sep 06:00: Magnitude recalculated from 4.8 to 5.2. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 9.4 to 7.5 km (from 5.8 to 4.7 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 1.9 km (1.2 mi) towards NE.
14 Sep 06:03: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 7.5 to 3.1 km (from 4.7 to 1.9 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 23 km (14 mi) towards S.
14 Sep 06:05: Magnitude recalculated from 5.2 to 4.9. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 3.1 to 3.9 km (from 1.9 to 2.4 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 13 km (8.3 mi) towards WSW.
Update Tue, 14 Sep 2021, 06:09
Moderate magnitude 4.9 quake hits 40 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, United States in the evening
4.9 quake 13 Sep 9:56 pm (GMT -8)
Just 13 minutes ago, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck near Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star, Alaska, USA. The tremor was recorded in the evening on Monday, September 13th, 2021, at 9:56 pm local time, at a very shallow depth of 2.4 miles below the surface.
The event was filed by the United States Geological Survey, the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 5.0.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage.
Moderate shaking probably occurred in Harding-Birch Lakes (pop. 300) located 6 miles from the epicenter.
In Salcha (pop. 1,100) located 8 miles from the epicenter, and Eielson Air Force Base (pop. 2,600) 18 miles away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in North Pole (pop. 2,200) located 28 miles from the epicenter, Badger (pop. 19,500) 34 miles away, Fairbanks (pop. 32,300) 40 miles away, College (pop. 13,000) 43 miles away, and Farmers Loop (pop. 4,900) 43 miles away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. 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.
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Earthquake data
Date & time: Sep 14, 2021 05:56:36 UTC –
Local time at epicenter: Monday, Sep 13, 2021 9:56 pm (GMT -8)
Magnitude: 4.9
Depth: 3.9 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 64.4374°N / 146.737°W 
(Fairbanks North Star, Alaska, United States)
Antipode: 64.437°S / 33.263°E
Nearest volcano: Buzzard Creek (112 km / 70 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
10 km (6 mi) NW of Harding-Birch Lakes (pop: 299) –> See nearby quakes!
12 km (8 mi) SE of Salcha (pop: 1,100) –> See nearby quakes!
29 km (18 mi) SSE of Eielson Air Force Base (pop: 2,650) –> See nearby quakes!
46 km (28 mi) SE of North Pole (pop: 2,190) –> See nearby quakes!
50 km (31 mi) S of Pleasant Valley (pop: 725) –> See nearby quakes!
55 km (34 mi) SE of Badger (pop: 19,500) –> See nearby quakes!
64 km (40 mi) SE of Fairbanks (pop: 32,300) –> See nearby quakes!
69 km (43 mi) SE of College (pop: 13,000) –> See nearby quakes!
76 km (47 mi) SE of Ester (pop: 2,420) –> See nearby quakes!
97 km (60 mi) NW of Deltana (pop: 2,250) –> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds 
7.4°C (45 F), humidity: 86%, wind: 1 m/s (3 kts) from E
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 1.4 x 1012 joules (392 megawatt hours, equivalent to 338 tons of TNT) | about seismic energy
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.
| Mag. | Depth | Location | Source |
| 4.9 | 3.9 km | Central Alaska | USGS |
| 4.7 | 8 km | CENTRAL ALASKA | EMSC |
| 4.9 | 10 km | Central Alaska | GFZ |
| 5.0 | 38 km | Central Alaska | BMKG |
User reports for this quake (139)
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Delta Junction, Alaska (66.4 km SE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 15-20 s : Was in Delta Junction, notices slight tremble, thought it was military, but then items in house visibly shook, and some dishes rattled. | 5 users found this interesting.
Airway Dr North Pole AK / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating : Woke from sleep right before it happened heard rattling and house started shaking. Cat looked but didn’t move. Texted Daughter in North Pole to see if she felt it too but didn’t. | 4 users found this interesting.
North East of Harding lake alaska, near louis de m (4 km W of epicenter) [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 10-15 s : Was having difficult standing lifting me up and down 2 to 4 inches off floor got my adrenalin up but no fear was akin to being in a typhoon in the Navy pictures on Wall askew furnature was jumping up and down | 3 users found this interesting.
Chena Hot Springs, Fairbanks North Star County, Alaska (84.7 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging : I was in bed and thought my large dog was scratching herself while leaning against my bed. The bed shook pretty good. | 2 users found this interesting.
Fairbanks (37 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 15-20 s : Was sitting on our couch and felt the apartment shake for about 20 seconds. Was a little worried things would fall over. Thankfully nothing did. | 2 users found this interesting.
Gold Stream Valley North of Fairbanks (79.9 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s : One sharp vertical jolt House sits on bedrock. | 3 users found this interesting.
Fairbanks, Alaska (63.7 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s : Sitting in the living room and felt my chair moving. | 3 users found this interesting.
Wedge wood resort fairbanks / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s : The curtains on the patio door were shaking… I was resting on the sofa multiple shakes. No rolling 20 seconds approximstely | 2 users found this interesting.
College, Fairbanks North Star, Alaska (71.6 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : Initially | One user found this interesting.
99701 (62.7 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Sitting on the couch we heard rattling throughout the house, my dog started barking and it felt to go on for longer than most. | One user found this interesting.
North (45.6 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : In bed heard it like a thumping then my whole house creaked and started shaking side to side. Then slowed woke and startled my dog | One user found this interesting.
Fort Wainwright / Weak shaking (MMI III) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 15-20 s : The whole house shaking and rocking Medium Shaking | 3 users found this interesting.
North Pole, Alaska (57.3 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / very short : House rattled while watching tv | 2 users found this interesting.
Fairbanks, (69.8 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 20-30 s : Woke me from a dead sleep. No items damaged but I miss most earthquakes, that one was pretty good. | 2 users found this interesting.
Fort Wainwright, Ak (61.2 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 30-60 s : We are an active duty Army family stationed at Fort Wainwright about 38 miles from the epicenter. We were laying in bed and I thought my husband was teasing the dogs knocking on the headboard wood. It started like knock knock knock and then it
- We no longer trust anyone in the US military. Pure evil. Get out while you can
Fairbanks, Alaska (65.6 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating : I was sleeping in my bed when it felt like I was on top of the washing machine during the spin cycle.
Fairbanks, AK (63 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : I was lightly sleeping and was woken by the vibration. It was louder and heavier vibrating than traffic causes, and increased in intensity over several seconds. (reported through our app)
Westmark, Fairbanks / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 30-60 s : Moderate shaking. Entire hotel building noticeably moving sideways for 20-30 sec. | 2 users found this interesting.
Fairbanks / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Laying in bed my whole bed shook and my make up was rattling off my desk next to me | 2 users found this interesting.
Fairbanks, AK / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 30-60 s : Bad shaking for 35 seconds. Then smaller shaking for another 20 seconds | 2 users found this interesting. (reported through our app)
Fairbanks / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 30-60 s : 30-40 seconds of moderate shaking. | 2 users found this interesting. (reported through our app)
Home (69.6 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Light shaking | One user found this interesting.
Best Western hotel in Fairbanks. (70.6 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s : Light shaking | One user found this interesting.
Ester alaska (81.1 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Did not feel it, but instead heard things shaking | One user found this interesting.
North Pole Alaska (42.5 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 2-5 s : Moderate shaking, didn’t last ling | One user found this interesting.
Eielson afb (31.9 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s : The house was shaking and then I felt like I swaying | One user found this interesting.
- We no longer trust anyone in the US military. Pure evil. Get out while you can
Fairbanks 660 Fairbanks st (69.2 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 5-10 s : Rolled in rattled at first building in intensity then rolled out slightly faster than it came in. | One user found this interesting.
Fairbanks (62.1 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 30-60 s : Was shaking my head. | One user found this interesting.
Fairbanks (57.5 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s : Scared… waiting for things to fly off the bookshelf | One user found this interesting.
Fairbanks (63.1 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : I was sitting at my table upstairs then felt the quake. | One user found this interesting.
Fairbanks, Alaska (61.4 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Upstairs in my bed and my bed started to shake a little bit | One user found this interesting.
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