Reviewed by USGSRussia57y ago
M5.8 earthquake 103 km ESE of Shikotan, Russia
Sunday, December 28, 1969, 04:53:11 UTC · 43.400°N, 147.883°E
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 103 km ESE of Shikotan, Russia on Sunday, December 28, 1969, 04:53:11 UTC, at a depth of 35.4 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on November 21, 1969.
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
8 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 16 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
39 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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 385 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.51963 Kuril Islands EarthquakeOctober 13, 1963 · 208 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 129 km N of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 11 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 259 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 102 km W of this epicenter
- 7.4170 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaFebruary 21, 1937 · 188 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.426 km S of Shikotan, RussiaJanuary 29, 1968 · 97 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 152 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 28 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 47 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 219 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 183 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 290 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 136 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1969M8.2
Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye
11 Aug 1969 · 22 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1963M8.5
Kuril Islands
13 Oct 1963 · 216 km away · intensity IX
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.