Earthquakes near Anchorage through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 12 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 60 mi of Anchorage, or 120 mi for magnitude 7 and above. One stands far above the rest: a magnitude 9.2 on March 28, 1964 (The 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska Earthquake). The next strongest reached 7.1.
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 60 mi of Anchorage in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 139 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 3 here, back to 1911. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.1 on November 30, 2018 (1 km SE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska). NOAA’s record here begins on September 22, 1911 with an earthquake (27 km ENE of Whittier, Alaska). NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 60 mi of Anchorage, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 31.7 m, on March 28, 1964. The deadliest here came on March 28, 1964 from a magnitude 9.2 earthquake (Prince William Sound, Ak): NOAA’s runup records count 13 deaths within 60 mi of Anchorage.
The events
- November 30, 2018Earthquake · M 7.11 km SE of Point MacKenzie, AlaskaUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 28, 1964Earthquake · M 9.2The 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska Earthquake · 139 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 28, 1964Tsunami · 31.7 m herePrince William Sound, Ak · 13 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 22, 1911Earthquake · M 6.327 km ENE of Whittier, AlaskaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Anchorage when it began within 60 mi of its centre, or 120 mi for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history