Reviewed by USGSRussia113y ago
M5.6 earthquake 14 km WNW of Borzoy, Russia
Thursday, January 14, 1915, 05:09:43 UTC · 42.881°N, 45.458°E
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 14 km WNW of Borzoy, Russia on Thursday, January 14, 1915, 05:09:43 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on April 20, 1913.
- Magnitude
- 5.6
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
4 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/4 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 9 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
556 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and Arabian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 5.83 km W of Stepanavan, ArmeniaOctober 12, 1912 · 228 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.814 km SSW of Akhmet’a, GeorgiaApril 20, 1913 · 111 km S of this epicenter
- 5.614 km W of Uchkulan, RussiaOctober 21, 1905 · 295 km W of this epicenter
- 5.57 km ENE of Vurğun, AzerbaijanOctober 20, 1906 · 195 km S of this epicenter
- 5.590 km ENE of Novokayakent, RussiaAugust 21, 1907 · 286 km E of this epicenter
- 5.56 km NW of Kveda Chkhorots’q’u, GeorgiaAugust 29, 1907 · 281 km W of this epicenter
- 5.324 km S of Terekli-Mekteb, RussiaAugust 10, 1912 · 122 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 697 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1830
Russia
9 Mar 1830 · 179 km away · intensity IX
410 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1899M5.6
Turkey
31 Dec 1899 · 215 km away
247 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1830M6.3
Dagestan
9 Mar 1830 · 126 km away · intensity IX
40 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1888M6.1
Turkey
22 Sep 1888 · 250 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1868M4.5
Spask
18 Oct 1868 · 232 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1811M4.2
Kakhetiya
1 Jan 1811 · 122 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.