Scientists say 2025 will see seismic activity slightly above average

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska has seen several notable earthquakes and seismic events in 2025.

The largest earthquake in the state was the 7.3 magnitude Sand Point earthquake on July 16.

The year saw “slightly above average” seismic activity, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.

Elizabeth Nadine, a geologist at the Alaska Earthquake Center, said that out of about 35,000 earthquakes detected by the Alaska Earthquake Center throughout the year, Alaska witnessed about 2,220 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or higher.

“This is actually much higher than 2024, where we had nearly 1,600 earthquakes with a magnitude above three,” she said. “But another comparison, it could be a noteworthy year like 2018.”

That year saw two very large earthquakes. One of them reached a magnitude of 7.9 on January 23 in Kodiak. The other earthquake was on November 30 and had a magnitude of 7.1 near Anchorage.

“In 2018, we reached more than 4,000 earthquakes with a magnitude higher than three,” she said.

In 2025, about 70 of the earthquakes detected were of magnitude 5 or greater.

She added: “A magnitude 5 earthquake would certainly be felt by anyone close to it. In many places in the world, it could cause widespread damage.”

Nadine said Alaska usually hits 5 degrees or higher for a week on average.

There were some notable events in 2025.

Kamchatka earthquake and tsunami

The 8.8-magnitude Kamchatka earthquake on July 29 was the world’s largest of 2025, and although it was not in Alaska, the impact was felt by many here as a warning of a tsunami and the wave spreading across the Pacific.

The 8.8-magnitude quake is tied for the sixth largest recorded earthquake in the world, according to the US Geological Survey.

Tsunami waves hit multiple communities in Alaska.

“We have a tsunami modeler on staff, and she was able to model the maximum wave height that could hit parts of Alaska,” Nadine said. “The western part of the Aleutians is directly in the path of that tsunami.”

She said she looked at the way the earthquake ruptured and at bathymetry, the topography of the ocean floor that can indicate how a tsunami moves across the ocean.

“Using this information, I tracked it and modeled a wave height of about three feet at Adak,” Nadine said. “This actually matches wave height measurements that were on the ground at Adak after the tsunami reached them.”

A three-foot tsunami may not seem like much, but it can have a significant impact.

“The amount of energy it carries, from the sea floor to the crest of the wave, is very high. Even a one-foot tsunami can cause devastation in the harbour,” Nadine said.

Tracy arm landslide

Another notable event was the Tracy Arm landslide, which occurred on August 10.

A huge amount of land fell from the fjord wall and into the deep waters of the Tracy Arm creating a tsunami that reached approximately 1,600 feet above the wall on the other side of the fjord. This wave rivals the size of the world’s longest recorded tsunami, which forced water about 1,720 feet over the fjord wall of Lituya Bay, Alaska, in 1958.

By the time the Tracy Arm tsunami hit Juneau, about 50 miles north of the landslide, the wave had dropped to just a foot, Nadine said.

“It was a reminder of the potential for landslides in Alaska,” she said.

The Alaska Earthquake Center just expanded its new landslide detection system, which is in the testing phase. Nadine said that although this landslide was outside the newly expanded area, the center was the first to use seismic data to determine when the landslide occurred and its size.

“I think what’s really interesting about the outcome of this is that two of the major cruise lines that visit Alaska have removed Tracy Arm from their schedule for the summer of 2026. They’ll still be going to Endicott Arm, but they won’t be going to Tracy Arm,” Nadin said.

“We were kind of lucky because it happened very early in the morning, I think it was close to five o’clock in the morning, and there weren’t any cruise ships in the area,” Nadine said. “But if that were the case, we would be looking at a completely different scenario.”

Nadine said it was very important to detect landslides and know that they caused a tsunami because of concern that a coastal community could be wiped out.

“If we can detect a landslide falling into the water quickly, people in the nearby coastal community will have enough time to get to higher ground,” she said.

“The Tracy Arm landslide in 2025 was a big thing. It was something that indicated that we had the ability to detect a landslide remotely. It was something that reminded us fairly safely of the dangers in coastal Alaska,” Nadin said. “It was a reminder, as we know, but increasingly we know that coastal Alaska is at risk for these large landslides that can trigger tsunamis.”

One scientist detailed his experience seeing the effects of the earthquake and tsunami just days after it occurred.

While it was not an earthquake, it is still considered a seismic event. When the ground fell away from the fjord wall, it created a signal picked up by seismic stations, much like an earthquake, but looking a little different.

The largest earthquake in Alaska in 2025

The largest earthquake in the state in 2025 struck in July.

It was the Sand Point earthquake, which occurred on July 16, and triggered a tsunami warning, but there was no noticeable wave, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.

“The largest earthquake in Alaska of 2025 occurred on July 16, among a group of five notable earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 7 in the same place since 2020,” the earthquake center said.

“It’s very interesting because it fills what was seen as a seismic gap, or kind of a spot between other large earthquakes that ruptured in the past,” Nadin said.

The seismic gap filled at least partially by these earthquakes is known as the Shumagin Gap.

This series of earthquakes in 2020 began with the 7.8 magnitude Simonov earthquake on July 22.

A few months later, there was an aftershock of magnitude 7.6 on October 19.

On July 29, 2021, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake called the Chiznik earthquake occurred.

“It’s larger, so you wouldn’t necessarily consider it an aftershock. Each one of these really big aftershocks has its own set of aftershocks,” Nadine said.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake also occurred in the area on July 15, 2023.

The 2025 Sandpoint earthquake completes the five earthquakes in the Shumagin Gap area since 2020.

Nadine said it was interesting, but coincidental, that there were five large earthquakes in the same area in July and October.

“It’s like a coincidence, but it’s an interesting coincidence. I can’t say it’s necessarily noteworthy from a scientific standpoint, but from an observational standpoint, it’s interesting,” she said.

Thanksgiving Morning M6.0

Another notable event in Alaska in 2025 was the Susitna earthquake on Thanksgiving morning. The 6.0 magnitude shook many awake that morning.

Nadine said she believed this was the most widespread earthquake of the year.

“The quake was felt widely, partly because it was so deep,” she said. She added: “I wouldn’t say it’s unusually deep, but for a magnitude 6 earthquake, it could be very devastating. But because it was deep, it wasn’t completely devastating, but it also means that the shaking was felt over a much wider area.”

She added that there was a stronger and longer feeling in the Cook Inlet area because it is full of sediments that shake a lot during earthquakes. It was felt somewhat less intensely west of Susitna.

While the quake was near the epicenter of the 2018 quake, the Alaska Earthquake Center said it was not an aftershock.

Nadine said that seismic activity in the area of ​​the 2018 earthquake has returned to background levels after the M7.1 earthquake in 2024.

Video captured the shaking of the Thanksgiving morning earthquake.

Hubbard Glacier Earthquake

The Hubbard Glacial Earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 and struck near Yakutat on December 6.

Nadine said it was technically in Canada, but it was under the Hubbard Glacier near the border with Alaska.

Joe Valle, who was in Yakutat when the quake struck, said the tremors started gently and then remained strong until the quake ended.

“I thought at first that maybe there was something going on at the house. Maybe the kids were getting active or something, but then it kept happening,” Valle told Alaska News Source in December. “In the time it took me to get up and walk into the other room, we started to feel some kind of big shaking.”

It also caused landslides and avalanches.

“The USGS has mapped about 700 different sites that have characteristics consistent with some type of landslide or avalanche,” Kate Olstadt, a USGS research geophysicist, told Alaska News Source in December.

“Fortunately it was in a remote area, again, out of harm’s way for most people,” Nadine said. “But as a reminder, large earthquakes in Alaska, in our area, can trigger landslides, can trigger avalanches.”

Other notable M5.0+ earthquakes

The January 29 magnitude 5.2 near McGrath was notable because it was in an area with no notable earthquakes.

“There hasn’t been an earthquake with a magnitude higher than 5 since 1935,” Nadine said. “That was a really interesting event scientifically because it validated the sense of movement on a fault in the area, like this fault that hasn’t ruptured in history for hundreds of years or so.”

There was also an earthquake in the Bruin Bay Fault area in April.

“I think it’s actually fairly famous because it’s located near the proposed Pebble Mine site. People want to know if it’s seismically active or not. It’s certainly been historically seismically active, but it hasn’t had a notable earthquake for quite some time,” she said.

She said this earthquake is interesting because it indicates that the fault is likely active in the southwestern extent of the fault, where the quake occurred.

Just around Halloween, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake occurred between Seward and Homer.

“I talked to some people after this event, and they were talking about the strange situation of Halloween decorations that would have come down during earthquakes.”

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