Small Earthquake Recorded Offshore Kaktovik in the Beaufort Sea

A small earthquake rattled the Beaufort Sea offshore south of Kaktovik on March 8, 2026, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which recorded the event at a local magnitude of 3.1. Rapid-report services placed the magnitude in a slightly wider range of 3.0 to 3.5, a variation typical of preliminary seismic readings before final catalog values are confirmed.

The USGS event page lists the epicenter as approximate. Full coordinates, depth, and time-of-day data were not available in initial reports, and the Alaska Earthquake Center had not yet released a detailed bulletin as of this writing. No felt reports had been filed through the USGS "Did You Feel It?" system, and no tsunami advisory was issued by NOAA for an event of this size.

Earthquakes of this magnitude are generally too small to cause structural damage and are often imperceptible at the surface, particularly when the epicenter sits offshore. The Beaufort Sea region has recorded comparable events before: on July 11, 2019, USGS catalogued a confirmed magnitude-3.1 earthquake centered 116 kilometers south of Kaktovik at a depth of 15.2 kilometers. That event, recorded by 78 seismic stations through the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, generated no felt reports.

The North Slope's seismic history includes far more powerful events. The region experienced its strongest recorded earthquake when a magnitude-6.4 mainshock struck about 50 miles southwest of Kaktovik just before 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning, followed by a magnitude-6.1 aftershock at 1:15 p.m. the same day. That sequence was felt as far south as metro Fairbanks and prompted inspections along the trans-Alaska pipeline. Alaska Earthquake Center seismologist Michael West said at the time that the event would "definitely cause people to re-evaluate the seismic potential of the Eastern Brooks Range and ANWR area."

For the March 8 event, officials had not yet reported any inspections, damage assessments, or community impacts. The USGS event page is expected to be updated with final magnitude, depth, and epicenter coordinates as additional station data is incorporated into the catalog.