The first major quake of 2021 belongs to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska with the islands rocked by a powerful, shallow Mag 6.1: The quake comes just 4 days after the most intensive storm ever recorded smashed into the Aleutian Islands

USGS

The Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands in Alaska records the first major quake (mag 6 or higher) of 2021. The powerful, shallow quake shook the islands on the 3 Jan 2021 at 12:38:48 UTC ringing in the first major quake of January and of 2021. Coincidently, the quake comes just 4 days after the most intensive storm ever recorded smashed into Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain on Thursday with a ferocity seen only in the blockbuster movie, "The Day After Tomorrow."

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2020 was the 2nd lowest year this century recording just 121 major quakes, (mag 6 or higher). Only 2017 recorded a lower number with 111. A total of 3,210 major quakes have shaken our planet since January the 1st 2000. The average annual total stands at 157

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“It was the most intense storm ever recorded in the North Pacific, excluding typhoons,” said Brian Brettschneider, an NOAA research scientist with the National Weather Service. The centre of what forecasters refer to as “bomb cyclone” was measured at a record-low barometric pressure of 921 millibars, equivalent to the eye of a Category 4 hurricane and the lowest documented over the Aleutians as far back as the 1950s, Brettschneider said. The storm unleashed seas as high as 54 feet (16.5 meters) and winds topping 80 miles per hour (120 kph) - a force of Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale - in the western Aleutians, the weather service said. 

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