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ALASKA QUAKEDID THE GROUND SHAKE NEAR YOU?

Southeast Alaska · 56.81°N

Earthquakes near Petersburg

Reading the latest USGS reports for the ground near Petersburg…

Live sections load from the USGS feed. If the feed does not answer, this page says so — it never fills the gap with old numbers.

Recorded USGS earthquakes from the last 7 days, magnitude 2.5 and larger, within 250 km of Petersburg. The dashed pale circle is a true 250 km radius around Petersburg; amber rings are the recorded epicenters, sized by magnitude; small cream squares are the other towns, and the ringed cream marker is Petersburg. If the USGS feed does not answer, the coastline, ring, and marker still show — and no events are plotted.

Most felt near Petersburg — last 7 days, within 250 km

Recent near Petersburg — last 7 days, M1.0 and larger within 250 km, newest first

Every event links to its USGS event page, the authority for that earthquake. Distances are measured from Petersburg, not copied from the feed's place names.

The biggest on record near Petersburg — USGS catalog, as recorded

The five largest earthquakes recorded within 200 km of Petersburg since 1900, from USGS catalog pulls made November 8, 2026. Pre-instrumental magnitudes are estimates, and catalog completeness varies by era — the fine print is on the about page.

How often does the ground move here?

5 earthquakes of M4.0 or larger were recorded within 200 km in the last 10 years — a low rate. Since 1900 the catalog holds 35 M4-or-larger events within the same radius.

Petersburg's seismicity is modest and mostly imported — its largest recorded neighbors are the big strike-slip events on the offshore system far to the west, and the inside waters around town are comparatively calm.

Southeast Alaska — why it shakes

Southeast Alaska is strike-slip country. The Queen Charlotte–Fairweather fault system runs just offshore along the panhandle, the Pacific and North America plates sliding sideways past each other — the same style of faulting as California's San Andreas. The 1949 M8.1 Queen Charlotte earthquake and the 1958 M7.8 Lituya Bay earthquake, which triggered the tallest recorded wave run-up in the world, both came from this system.

New to the numbers? What magnitude means explains the scale in plain words — including why a whole step is about 32 times the energy, and why what people feel is not the same as damage.

Petersburg on the sister sites

Daylight in Petersburg — sunrise, sunset, and day length.

Aurora over Petersburg — tonight's northern lights outlook.

Petersburg — the nearest tide station in the fleet's inventory, 0 km from Petersburg.