Reviewed by USGSRussia59y ago
M6.5 earthquake 95 km SSE of Shikotan, Russia
Sunday, February 4, 1968, 11:00:50 UTC · 43.037°N, 147.269°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 95 km SSE of Shikotan, Russia on Sunday, February 4, 1968, 11:00:50 UTC, at a depth of 25.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.4 on January 29, 1968.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 26 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
94 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 197 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
35 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
26 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 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 278 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 · 270 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 188 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.11952 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMarch 4, 1952 · 296 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 298 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 68 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4170 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaFebruary 21, 1937 · 252 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.426 km S of Shikotan, RussiaJanuary 29, 1968 · 74 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 214 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 80 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 155 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 297 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 120 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 248 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 195 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1963M8.5
Kuril Islands
13 Oct 1963 · 280 km away · intensity IX
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.