Earthquakes near Anchorage, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 11 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Anchorage, or 200 km 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 100 km of Anchorage in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 139 deaths for it. 2 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. The ten years with the most magnitude 6+ earthquakes were 1927–1936, with 5 of the 11. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.1 on November 30, 2018 (1 km SE of Point MacKenzie, Alaska). NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km 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 100 km 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
Good to know
- An event counts for Anchorage when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km 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