Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago
M6.1 earthquake 68 km ESE of Ozernovskiy, Russia
Saturday, September 5, 1953, 18:58:21 UTC · 51.207°N, 157.366°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 68 km ESE of Ozernovskiy, Russia on Saturday, September 5, 1953, 18:58:21 UTC, at a depth of 50.7 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on September 4, 1953.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 51 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- V
- Moderate (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
22 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 46 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
169 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
51 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.1 on September 26, 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 139 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 · 228 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 264 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 298 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 240 km E of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 113 km N of this epicenter
- 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 157 km S of this epicenter
- 7.297 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaAugust 17, 1907 · 134 km N of this epicenter
- 7.185 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaSeptember 23, 1944 · 295 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 13 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,100 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1952M9.0
Kamchatka Peninsula
4 Nov 1952 · 252 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 46 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 98 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 143 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 143 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1827
Kamchatka
9 Aug 1827 · 214 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.