Reviewed by USGSRussia68y ago
M6.3 earthquake 43 km NE of Yelizovo, Russia
Tuesday, May 5, 1959, 19:04:19 UTC · 53.467°N, 158.830°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 43 km NE of Yelizovo, Russia on Tuesday, May 5, 1959, 19:04:19 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.9 on May 4, 1959.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
47 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 99 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
199 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific 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 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 199 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 9.089 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaNovember 4, 1952 · 113 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.41923 Kamchatka, Russia EarthquakeFebruary 3, 1923 · 156 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.976 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaMay 4, 1959 · 64 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 124 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.666 km SSE of Klyuchi, RussiaOctober 27, 1957 · 294 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 296 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 286 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 174 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 18 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,104 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1952M9.0
Kamchatka Peninsula
4 Nov 1952 · 114 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 269 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1923M8.4
Kamchatka
3 Feb 1923 · 156 km away · intensity XI
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1959M8.2
Near East Coast Of Kamchatka
4 May 1959 · 117 km away · intensity X
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 172 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 164 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.