M5.5 earthquake 160 km SSE of Kuril’sk, Russia

Sunday, November 16, 1958, 04:47:34 UTC · 43.934°N, 148.791°E

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 160 km SSE of Kuril’sk, Russia on Sunday, November 16, 1958, 04:47:34 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.9 on November 14, 1958.

Magnitude: 5.5; Moderate · mw
Depth: 25 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

3 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/6 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 5 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

44 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

25 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 lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.1 on November 19, 1958. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 169 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 36 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 276 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 244 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 277 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 69 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1904M7.6
Hokkaido
18 Mar 1904 · 290 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
1937M7.6
Kuril Islands
21 Feb 1937 · 79 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers