Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago
M6.0 earthquake 160 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia
Monday, February 2, 1953, 09:30:06 UTC · 49.231°N, 156.228°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 160 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia on Monday, February 2, 1953, 09:30:06 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on January 21, 1953.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Strong · 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
17 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 36 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
84 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 100 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.3 on February 7, 1953. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 90 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8266 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 1, 1915 · 130 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 137 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kuril IslandsJanuary 18, 1925 · 234 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0285 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaAugust 1, 1913 · 125 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsNovember 6, 1951 · 269 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.9119 km E of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMarch 24, 1921 · 279 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.9102 km E of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 4, 1952 · 183 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8171 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaJanuary 5, 1953 · 60 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 100 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 243 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1915M8.1
Kuril Islands
1 May 1915 · 264 km away
- 1913M7.7
Kuril Islands
1 Aug 1913 · 200 km away
- 1929M7.7
Kuril Islands
13 Jan 1929 · 121 km away · intensity VII
- 1911M7.6
Near Kamchatka
4 May 1911 · 286 km away · intensity VII
- 1737M7.5
Kuril Islands
17 Dec 1737 · 102 km away · intensity IX
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.