Denali Fault System
Alaska, USA · continental transform · 2335.9 km of mapped active fault in 223 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.20 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 74 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 2.47 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 2335.9 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 223 |
| Tectonic setting | continental transform |
| Slip types | Strike-Slip, Reverse-Strike-Slip |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 60.66 to 63.53 latitude, -152.98 to -137.81 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 3 significant earthquakes attributed to this system since 1904.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 8.3, on 27 August 1904 (Alaska: Rampart).
The most recent entry is the 3 November 2002 magnitude 7.9 earthquake (Alaska: Slana, Mentasta Lake, Fairbanks).
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 August 1904 | magnitude 8.3 earthquake | Alaska: Rampart | - |
| 3 November 2002 | magnitude 7.9 earthquake | Alaska: Slana, Mentasta Lake, Fairbanks | $56 million damage |
| 23 October 2002 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Alaska: Cantwell, Denali Natl Park | damage $1 to 5 million |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Who to listen to if you live here
Ready Alaska is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://ready.alaska.gov/ (in English)
Other systems in Alaska, USA
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.