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ALASKA QUAKEDID THE GROUND SHAKE NEAR YOU?

Southeast Alaska · 57.05°N

Earthquakes near Sitka

Reading the latest USGS reports for the ground near Sitka…

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 Sitka. The dashed pale circle is a true 250 km radius around Sitka; amber rings are the recorded epicenters, sized by magnitude; small cream squares are the other towns, and the ringed cream marker is Sitka. If the USGS feed does not answer, the coastline, ring, and marker still show — and no events are plotted.

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

Recent near Sitka — 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 Sitka, not copied from the feed's place names.

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

The five largest earthquakes recorded within 200 km of Sitka 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?

15 earthquakes of M4.0 or larger were recorded within 200 km in the last 10 years — a moderate rate. Since 1900 the catalog holds 101 M4-or-larger events within the same radius.

Sitka faces the Fairweather–Queen Charlotte fault system directly across the water; the 1972 M7.6 near Sitka is the largest earthquake in its recorded set, and the offshore fault remains its defining source.

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.

Sitka on the sister sites

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

Aurora over Sitka — tonight's northern lights outlook.

Sitka — the nearest tide station in the fleet's inventory, 1 km from Sitka.