This event was located within the Kantishna seismic cluster. It is a very active source of crustal earthquakes located between the NNE-trending Minto Flats seismic zone to the northeast and the Denali fault in the south. This cluster is believed to accommodate deformation caused by interaction between these large crustal tectonic structures. Dozens of small earthquakes occur in the cluster every week.

This is the largest event in the cluster since the magnitude 5.2 earthquake on December 8, 1984.

Both the mainshock and largest aftershock were strike-slip faulting earthquakes. The faulting can be associated either with the right-lateral motion on W-E trending fault or the left-lateral motion on N-S trending fault.