Moderate magnitude 4.3 earthquake at 35 km depth21 Aug 01:24 UTC: First to report: USGS after 13 minutes.Update Fri, 21 Aug 2026, 01:27Moderate magnitude 4.3 quake hits 46 miles southeast of Akutan, Alaska, United States in the afternoonA magnitude 4.3 earthquake near Akutan, Aleutians East, Alaska, USA, was reported only 15 minutes ago by the United States Geological Survey, considered the key international and national agency that monitors seismic activity in the US. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 22 miles beneath the epicenter in the afternoon on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 5:11 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 4.3 earthquake as well.Weak shaking might have been felt in Akutan (pop. 1000) located 46 miles from the epicenter.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Unalaska (pop. 4,500) located 55 miles from the epicenter, and Dutch Harbor (pop. 4,400) 56 miles away.VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.If you were or still are in this area during the quake help others with your feedback and report it here.Download the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app and get one of the fastest seismic alerts online: Android | iOSI didn't feel itI felt this quakeEarthquake detailsDate & timeAug 21, 2026 01:11:50 UTC - Local time at epicenterThursday, Aug 20, 2026, at 05:11 pm (GMT -8)Statusconfirmed (manually revised)Magnitude4.30Depth35 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude53.524°N / 165.3313°WAlaska, United StatesSeismic antipode53.524°S / 14.6687°EQuality36 seismic stationsShaking intensityIII Weak shaking near epicenterFelt0 reportsPrimary data sourceUSGS (United States Geological Survey)Nearest volcanoAkutan (80 km / 50 mi)Weather at epicenter at time of quakeFew Clouds 11°C (52 F), humidity: 90%, wind: 2 m/s (4 kts) from WNWEstimated seismic energy released1.8 x 1011 joules (49.4 megawatt hours, equivalent to 42.5 tons of TNT) | equivalent to ONE quake of magnitude 4.3 | about seismic energy23 minutes agoAug 21, 2026 01:11 GMT / Aug 20, 2026 05:11 pm (GMT -8)Lat / Lng: 53.524 / -165.3313: 73 km SSE of Akutan, AlaskaSource: USGSOther sources: EMSC: 4.3 / 35 kmDetail info | You felt it? - Report it!';storedMarkers.push(['quake-23299651',53.52400,-165.33130,'23 minutes ago: Mag. 4.3, 73 km SSE of Akutan, Alaska',html,'quakes-6-24.png',25,25,12,12,125]); function mkRep(id,notFelt){var nFelt=notFelt||false;var src="https://www.volcanoesandearthquakes.com/app/earthquake-report.php?quakeId="+id;if(nFelt==true){src+="¬Felt=true";}window.open(src,"","status=0,toolbar=0,location=0,directories=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,height=400,width=350");} function locationHashChanged(e){-1!=e.oldURL.indexOf("#popupMap")&&closePopup()} window.onhashchange = locationHashChanged; function comment(e){var t=e.parentNode,a=(t.dataset.id,document.getElementById("commentForm"));"none"==a.style.display?(t.appendChild(a),a.style.display="block"):a.style.display="none"}function sendComment(e){var t=e.parentNode,a=t.parentNode.dataset.id,n=document.getElementById("commentContent"),p=n.value.trim();if(p){var o="id="+a+"&quakeId="+thisQuakeId;o+="&comment="+decodeURIComponent(p),mkRequest("//reports.volcanodiscovery.com/app/eqReportComment.php","post",o,function(e){e.responseText;alert("Thank you for submitting your comment!"),t.style.display="none",n.value=""})}}function flagReport(e){var t=e.parentNode.dataset.id;if(confirm("Report this as inappropriate?")){var a="id="+t+"&quakeId="+thisQuakeId+"&flagAsInappropriate=1";mkRequest("//reports.volcanodiscovery.com/app/eqReportComment.php","post",a,function(t){var a=t.responseText;alert(a),e.style.display="none"})}}function likeReport(e){var t="id="+e.parentNode.dataset.id+"&quakeId="+thisQuakeId+"&like=1";mkRequest("//reports.volcanodiscovery.com/app/eqReportComment.php","post",t,function(t){t.responseText;e.style.opacity=.5})}]]>[smaller] [bigger]Ground shaking from this quakeMap of estimated ground shaking (source:USGS)Ground accelleration map for this quakeMap of estimated ground accelleration (source:USGS)Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in the US AlaskaNearby placesThe closest larger town where the quake might have been felt is Unalaska, a town with 4,500 inhabitants in the United States, in 88 km (55 mi) distance northwest of the epicenter. People likely experienced very weak shaking there. Several smaller towns and villages are located closer to the epicenter and might have experienced stronger shaking.The following table shows some of the places that might have been affected (or not) by the shaking.DistancePlaceMax. shaking intensity(*)RegionCountry74 km (46 mi)NW of epicenterAkutan(pop: 1,040)III: WeakAleutians East Borough, AlaskaUnited States88 km (55 mi)NW of epicenterUnalaska(pop: 4,490)II: Very weakAleutians West Census Area, AlaskaUnited States90 km (56 mi)NW of epicenterDutch Harbor(pop: 4,380)II: Very weakAleutians West Census Area, AlaskaUnited States194 km (120 mi)NE of epicenterFalse Pass(pop: 40)II: Very weakAleutians East Borough, AlaskaUnited States244 km (151 mi)W of epicenterNikolski(pop: 18)II: Very weakAleutians West Census Area, AlaskaUnited States251 km (156 mi)NE of epicenterCold Bay(pop: 123)II: Very weakAleutians East Borough, AlaskaUnited States260 km (161 mi)NE of epicenterKing Cove(pop: 1,010)I: Not feltAleutians East Borough, AlaskaUnited States372 km (231 mi)NE of epicenterSand Point(pop: 1,060)I: Not feltAleutians East Borough, AlaskaUnited States382 km (237 mi)NE of epicenterNelson Lagoon(pop: 52)I: Not feltAleutians East Borough, AlaskaUnited StatesNotes:(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.User-reports for this quakeThere are no user reports for this quake yet.If you felt it, be the first to report it!Get the Android appCompare Quake DataData for the same earthquake as reported by different agenciesThe more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.MagDepthTime GMT2026-08-21EpicenterAgency4.335 km22 mi01:11:50.89673 km SSE of Akutan, AlaskaUSGS (United States Geological Survey)4.335 km22 mi01:11:50.896FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS0 km (0 mi) epicenter difference with USGSEMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)Aftershocks for this quakeNo aftershocks have been recorded so far. When aftershocks are detected, we will update this section.What are aftershocks?Larger earthquakes (above magnitude 5 or so) such as this one are usually followed by smaller ones known as aftershocks that occur in the same area during the days, weeks, months or even years after the main shock.[More info]What about this quake?Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake likely ruptured beneath a surface area of approximately 2 km2 (1 square miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 2 km (2 mi).[More info]Recorded aftershocks, latest first (0 quake)Aug 20, 2026 05:11 pm (GMT -8)23 minutes ago4.335 km0 km - This quakeNorth Pacific Ocean, 38 mi S of Avatanak Island, Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United StatesMain Shock (this quake)MoreMap of aftershocksEarthquake statisticsAverage number of earthquakesBased on data from the past 56 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 998 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi):Mag. 6 or higher: 0.2 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 5.1 years)Mag. 5 or higher: 1.4 quakes per yearMag. 4 or higher: 10.7 quakes per yearMag. 3 or higher: 89 quakes per year (or 7.4 quakes per month)Mag. 2 or higher: 403 quakes per year (or 33.6 quakes per month)Mag. 1 or higher: 716 quakes per year (or 60 quakes per month)The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. It has had at least 25 quakes above magnitude 6 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 5 to 10 years.Number of quakes per yearPrevious quakes in the same area of this earthquake