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M 6.5 Earthquake Strikes 166 km W of Nikolski, Alaska

Source: USGS · Alaska

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake was recorded by USGS near 166 km W of Nikolski. On the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program scale, M6.5 is classified "Strong". Among the 1,740 earthquake reports Areazine has published, this M6.5 event ranks stronger than 99% of them (rank #19 by magnitude).

Read this earthquake report in 30 seconds

Magnitude
M 6.5
USGS class
Strong
Location
166 km W of Nikolski
Archive rank
#19 of 1,740
Source
USGS
Published
September 17, 2026
STRONG

Sits above 99% of the 1,740 earthquakes in the archive by magnitude; 18 ran stronger.

Record status: USGS's reading at the moment of detection — the agency keeps revising magnitude, aftershock counts, and felt reports on its own event page as more data arrives.

What Happened

A magnitude 6.5 mww earthquake struck 166 km W of Nikolski, Alaska, on 2026-10-17 at 12:59:52 UTC (Unix time 1789654792882). The event was reviewed by USGS with a depth of 108.383 km.

Location Details

The epicenter was located at latitude 52.7715, longitude -171.3107, 166 km west of Nikolski, Alaska. A depth of 108 km classifies this as a deep earthquake (>70 km).

Impact Assessment

The earthquake was felt by 3 people with a maximum reported intensity (CDI) of 3.1. The USGS assigned a green alert level and noted a tsunami advisory (tsunami flag: 1). The significance value was 651.

What You Should Know

This was classified as a strong earthquake (M 6.0-6.9). Residents in the region should follow standard earthquake safety procedures and be aware of the possibility of aftershocks.

Source

Data from USGS: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000ti1p

Original source: USGS Official Notice ↗

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Comparable nationwide notices (length or severity timing) 8

Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this USGS earthquake report: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.

Similar body length

Nearest notices by article body length (904 characters here).

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Similar severity timing

Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to September 17, 2026.

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What People Ask

Questions readers often have about this USGS earthquake report.

What was the magnitude of this event? ▾
A strong M 6.5 earthquake occurred 166 km west of Nikolski, Alaska, at a depth of 108 km.
How should a magnitude 6.5 ("Strong") event be understood? ▾
The USGS classifies M6.5 as "Strong" on its Earthquake Hazards Program scale. Events in this range are felt over a wide area and can cause significant damage near the epicenter, particularly to older or unreinforced buildings.
Where does this event rank against Areazine's other recorded earthquakes? ▾
This is the #19 strongest of the 1,740 earthquake reports in Areazine's archive by magnitude, stronger than 99% of them and weaker than 18 others.
Was Nikolski likely to feel this earthquake? ▾
This event was centered 166 km W of Nikolski. Shaking intensity falls off sharply with distance from the epicenter and depends on depth and local geology, so check the USGS "Did You Feel It?" report for this event for real felt-shaking data rather than assuming from magnitude and distance alone.

Primary source data

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