M1.6 earthquake 131 km NW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska, United States

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck 131 km NW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska, United States at 16:48 local time (00:48 UTC) on 20 Oct 2026, at a depth of 86 km, according to USGS.

Data: USGS · updated 2026-10-23 17:31 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude: 1.6micro
local magnitude (Richter) (ml)
Depth: 86.1 km
Status: Reviewed
Origin time: 2026-10-21 00:48:47 UTC; Local: 20 Oct 2026, 16:48:47 (America/Anchorage)
Epicentre: 62.547° N, 151.150° 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	131 km	INot felt
TanainaAlaska, United States · pop. 8,197	136 km	INot felt
AnchorageAlaska, United States · pop. 289,600	161 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	1.6 ml	86.1 km	62.55° N, 151.15° W	–	Reviewed

How big was it?

Usually not felt. Recorded by nearby seismometers; thousands occur worldwide every day.

It released roughly the energy of 4 kg 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 86 km this was a intermediate-depth earthquake, which spreads shaking over a wider area but less intensely.

Compare M1.6 with M1.0

M1.6 releases about 7.9× the energy of M1.0, and its waves are about 4× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 4 kg of TNT vs 477 g of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M1.0. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

19 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M2.4 12 days ago. 8 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M1.6

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)	Magnitude	Depth (km)
20.80	1.9	95
23.65	1.7	86
65.58	1.7	72
161.41	2.0	99
182.40	1.9	14
182.45	1.9	20
257.34	2.4	68
296.18	1.6	77
348.08	2.0	82
364.08	2.1	85
368.68	1.9	91
384.38	1.8	12
388.18	2.4	91
419.94	1.5	93
432.10	2.1	78
434.59	1.8	81
456.76	1.6	23
520.70	2.3	86
547.93	2.3	90

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.

Event id aka2026uvgavr. First recorded here 23 Oct 2026, 17:56:19 UTC. Solutions: USGS · AK (usgs:aka2026uvgavr). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M1.6 earthquake 131 km NW of Meadow Lakes, Alaska, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/aka2026uvgavr-m1-6-earthquake-131-km-nw-of-meadow-lakes-alaska-united-states, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/aka2026uvgavr. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.