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SeismoAtlas

M5.3 earthquake – Nikolski, Alaska

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in the Nikolski, Alaska region at 18:45 UTC on 3 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS.

Data: USGS · updated 2026-09-14 19:25 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
5.3moderate
moment magnitude (W phase) (mww)
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-03 18:45:39 UTC
Epicentre
52.003° N, 169.333° W

Circles show this event and others within 56 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
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
No towns within 400 km. This is a remote area.

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. Likely felt out to about 176 km.

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, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey5.3 mww10 km52.00° N, 169.33° W–Reviewed

How big was it?

Felt by most people over a wide area. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.

It released roughly the energy of 1.3 kt 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 10 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M5.3 releases about 32× the energy of M4.3, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 1.3 kt of TNT vs 43 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M4.3. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

157 later earthquakes within 56 km; the largest was M5.4 25 days ago. 114 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.3

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
0.063.435
0.132.624
0.193.410
0.352.77
0.523.010
0.622.510
0.662.610
0.704.037
1.383.035
1.493.725
1.595.410
1.615.033
1.773.838
1.914.410
2.132.615
2.192.812
3.842.810
3.902.88
3.933.018
3.943.310
4.122.710
4.143.310
4.262.535
4.453.010
4.612.723
4.672.610
4.762.510
5.152.811
5.192.910
5.203.010
5.272.610
5.632.810
6.502.916
6.732.97
6.873.010
7.033.310
7.072.810
7.083.810
7.222.510
7.343.010
7.353.925
7.562.510
7.602.610
7.652.88
7.903.010
8.093.019
8.782.824
8.823.79
8.922.824
9.462.830
9.893.54
10.342.812
10.422.710
10.712.610
10.862.511
11.442.610
12.102.81
12.362.716
12.662.810
13.182.710
13.552.75
13.772.635
13.972.711
14.232.722
14.663.512
15.643.215
16.862.711
17.292.635
19.392.810
19.904.035
20.123.135
20.802.910
22.732.625
31.253.129
32.203.217
32.513.010
32.962.810
33.412.535
33.552.727
35.542.710
38.392.714
39.222.720
41.692.810
42.162.87
44.073.07
45.402.75
45.483.020
47.244.929
47.432.820
54.352.88
57.613.825
57.682.922
58.412.810
61.062.821
62.302.91
64.352.814
64.542.917
65.752.818
68.223.110
68.713.910
74.482.711
75.912.711
76.922.76
77.112.813
79.713.210
80.562.612
86.492.711
88.022.85
89.523.218
90.332.713
90.492.722
91.542.735
108.093.015
109.463.28
109.522.95
119.173.210
119.243.410
119.692.610
120.112.710
123.362.914
124.284.046
124.313.38
124.382.77
124.543.09
124.702.713
125.622.712
125.643.650
129.772.611
130.192.53
151.742.511
159.622.718
163.842.622
165.572.735
176.133.411
179.602.98
180.642.718
180.742.719
189.422.614
191.663.135
215.513.335
220.502.539
223.022.73
237.162.85
241.922.716
242.282.935
268.102.710
277.962.98
287.002.952
287.252.818
326.442.714
342.373.825
354.563.245
377.974.041
395.193.211
395.252.910
404.472.710
554.764.035
  1. 5.4Nikolski, Alaska09-03 20:21
  2. 5.0Nikolski, Alaska09-03 20:22
  3. 4.9Nikolski, Alaska09-05 18:00
  4. 4.4Nikolski, Alaska09-03 20:40
  5. 4.0Nikolski, Alaska09-03 19:27
  6. 4.0Nikolski, Alaska09-04 14:39
  7. 4.0Nikolski, Alaska09-08 23:02
  8. 4.0Nikolski, Alaska09-19 12:44
  9. 4.0Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands09-26 21:31
  10. 3.9Nikolski, Alaska09-04 02:06
  11. 3.9Nikolski, Alaska09-06 15:28
  12. 3.8Nikolski, Alaska09-03 20:31
  13. 3.8Nikolski, Alaska09-04 01:50
  14. 3.8Nikolski, Alaska09-06 04:22
  15. 3.8Nikolski, Alaska09-18 01:07
  16. 3.7Nikolski, Alaska09-03 20:14
  17. 3.7Nikolski, Alaska09-04 03:34
  18. 3.6Nikolski, Alaska09-09 00:23
  19. 3.5Nikolski, Alaska09-04 04:38
  20. 3.5Nikolski, Alaska09-04 09:25
  21. 3.4Nikolski, Alaska09-03 18:49
  22. 3.4Nikolski, Alaska09-03 18:57
  23. 3.4Nikolski, Alaska09-08 18:00
  24. 3.4Nikolski, Alaska09-11 02:53
  25. 3.3Nikolski, Alaska09-03 22:42

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 us7000te2m. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:13 UTC. Solutions: USGS (usgs:us7000te2m). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.3 earthquake – Nikolski, Alaska”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/us7000te2m-m5-3-earthquake-nikolski-alaska, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/us7000te2m. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.