Reviewed by USGSRussia68y ago
M5.8 earthquake 140 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia
Friday, May 8, 1959, 11:34:53 UTC · 53.599°N, 160.530°E
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 140 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia on Friday, May 8, 1959, 11:34:53 UTC, at a depth of 56.7 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on May 5, 1959.
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 57 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
9 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 18 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
126 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
57 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 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 · 120 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.41923 Kamchatka, Russia EarthquakeFebruary 3, 1923 · 99 km N of this epicenter
- 7.976 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaMay 4, 1959 · 65 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 94 km S of this epicenter
- 7.666 km SSE of Klyuchi, RussiaOctober 27, 1957 · 242 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 253 km S of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 268 km S of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 268 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 21 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,004 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1952M9.0
Kamchatka Peninsula
4 Nov 1952 · 99 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1923M8.4
Kamchatka
3 Feb 1923 · 99 km away · intensity XI
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1959M8.2
Near East Coast Of Kamchatka
4 May 1959 · 140 km away · intensity X
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 246 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 205 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 205 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.