Name
The 6 December 2025 Mw 7.0 earthquake in Yukon, Canada: Tectonic significance and observations of ground failure
Date & Time
Monday, May 25, 2026, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Description
The 6 December 2025 moment magnitude (Mw) 7.0 earthquake in southwestern Yukon was the largest onshore earthquake in Canada in over 75 years. Although it caused no casualties or damage to the built environment, the event provides important insight into the active tectonics of the St. Elias orogen and associated seismic hazards in Yukon. The earthquake also triggered widespread landslides and avalanche activity, offering an opportunity to examine relationships between ground shaking and mass wasting. We use double-difference relocation to refine the location of the mainshock and 3,280 aftershocks. Using satellite imagery and observations from a reconnaissance flight over the epicentral area, we compile a preliminary inventory of more than 200 landslides and other surface effects associated with the earthquake. No evidence of surface rupture was observed during the flight. The spatial extent of landslides was also notably smaller than expected based on empirical relationships from past earthquakes, possibly due to the extreme cold conditions and widespread permafrost. The relocated seismicity and landslide distribution indicate that the main rupture and strongest shaking occurred beneath the Mt. King George massif. We infer that rupture occurred on the southernmost section of the hypothesized Totschunda–Fairweather Connector fault. Slip initiated as strike-slip motion, propagated northwestward, and may have involved activation of a conjugate reverse fault toward the northwestern portion of the rupture. Together, these observations improve our understanding of a major Yukon fault system, as well as overall earthquake and landslide hazards in a remote but actively deforming plate-boundary region.
Location Name
McInnes Room
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Poster
Abstract ID
241
Speaker Organization
Natural Resources Canada
Session Name
S-5
Co-authors
Theron Finley (Yukon Geological Survey), Katie Biegel (University of California Davis), Panya Lipovsky (Yukon Geological Survey), Derek Cronmiller (Yukon Geological Survey), Andrew Schaeffer (Geological Survey of Canada), and Jan Dettmer (Yukon Geological Survey)
Presenting Author
Jeremy M. Gosselin (Geological Survey of Canada)