QuakeScout
Magnitude6.1

Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago

M6.1 earthquake 78 km ENE of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia

Saturday, September 26, 1953, 01:02:34 UTC · 50.838°N, 157.213°E

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 78 km ENE of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia on Saturday, September 26, 1953, 01:02:34 UTC, at a depth of 46.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on September 23, 1953.

Magnitude
6.1
Strong · mw
Depth
46 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 earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

21 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 45 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

148 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

46 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 132 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 9.089 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaNovember 4, 1952 · 266 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 255 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 154 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 122 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.297 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaAugust 17, 1907 · 172 km N of this epicenter
  6. 6.9119 km E of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMarch 24, 1921 · 93 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 6.928 km E of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaSeptember 4, 1953 · 53 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 6.9102 km E of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 4, 1952 · 35 km SE 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:

  1. 1952M9.0

    Kamchatka Peninsula

    4 Nov 1952 · 289 km away · intensity VII

    10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami

  2. 1737

    Kamchatka

    16 Oct 1737 · 62 km away

    100 deathstsunami

  3. 1841M8.4

    Off Kamchatka

    17 May 1841 · 140 km away · intensity XI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  4. 1904M8.3

    Off Kamchatka

    25 Jun 1904 · 179 km away · intensity X

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1904M8.1

    Off Kamchatka

    25 Jun 1904 · 179 km away · intensity X

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1827

    Kamchatka

    9 Aug 1827 · 256 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

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