M3.8 earthquake 145 km NNW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska, United States

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 145 km NNW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska, United States at 00:16 local time (08:16 UTC) on 17 Oct 2026, at a depth of 92 km, according to USGS.

revised from M3.9 · 2 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”

Data: USGS · updated 2026-10-17 15:40 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude: 3.8minor
local magnitude (Richter) (ml)
revised from 3.9
Depth: 91.9 km
Status: Reviewed
Origin time: 2026-10-17 08:16:42 UTC; Local: 17 Oct 2026, 00:16:42 (America/Anchorage)
Epicentre: 62.852° N, 150.506° W

Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
Place	Distance	Est. shaking
Meadow LakesAlaska, United States · pop. 7,570	145 km	INot felt
TanainaAlaska, United States · pop. 8,197	147 km	INot felt
AnchorageAlaska, United States · pop. 289,600	184 km	INot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS · AK, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

Agency	Magnitude	Depth	Epicentre	Time offset	Status
USGS · AKheadlineAlaska Earthquake Center via U.S. Geological Survey	3.8 mlwas 3.9	91.9 km	62.85° N, 150.51° W	–	Reviewed · 2 revisions

How big was it?

Often felt by people at rest close to the epicentre, rarely causes damage.

It released roughly the energy of 7.6 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 92 km this was a intermediate-depth earthquake, which spreads shaking over a wider area but less intensely.

Compare M3.8 with M2.8

M3.8 releases about 32× the energy of M2.8, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 7.6 t of TNT vs 239 kg of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M2.8. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

27 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M3.5 3 days ago. 7 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M3.8

27 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)	Magnitude	Depth (km)
1.85	2.5	111
26.56	1.9	100
42.63	1.7	85
49.44	1.5	107
61.54	1.9	90
62.76	3.1	106
100.21	1.6	13
147.59	1.8	92
165.56	2.4	106
188.54	2.3	87
217.30	1.9	134
221.69	1.9	114
230.60	1.7	9
237.08	1.6	107
258.08	2.0	94
286.60	2.3	96
293.95	2.2	101
311.36	1.7	72
383.05	2.3	87
386.85	2.0	86
463.93	2.1	92
464.20	2.0	5
530.86	2.6	92
540.48	1.7	96
549.86	2.2	104
552.20	3.5	112
629.39	2.3	88

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

USGS “Did You Feel It?” has 2 reports: add yours at USGS.

Event id aka2026uokwxx. First recorded here 17 Oct 2026, 08:18:33 UTC. Solutions: USGS · AK (usgs:aka2026uokwxx). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M3.8 earthquake 145 km NNW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/aka2026uokwxx-m3-8-earthquake-145-km-nnw-of-meadow-lakes-alaska-united-states, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/aka2026uokwxx. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.