The September 27, 1949 earthquake
M6.6near Bear Creek, Alaska
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake 9.3 miles deep, centred in Kenai Peninsula Borough. The 145th strongest in Alaska’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles in the catalogue, which runs from 1900.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.6
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 9.3 mi
- 15.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Tuesday, September 27, 1949
- 05:30 AST; 15:30 UTC
- In Alaska’s record
- 145th
- strongest of 124,625 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event iscgem896889 (“3 km SW of Bear Creek, Alaska”). The USGS event page carries the ShakeMap, felt reports and the official summary.
Counties and cities within 50 miles
Distance from the epicentre to each county boundary (zero when inside) and to each city centre.
Counties
- Kenai Peninsula BoroughAK · inside
- Chugach Census AreaAK · 29.9 mi
- Anchorage MunicipalityAK · 42.8 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
267 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more within 50 miles of this epicentre since 1973.
Earlier earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more within 50 miles, strongest first
- October 24, 1937M6.0
- July 25, 1937M5.8
- February 19, 1928M5.7
- January 27, 1931M5.6
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.