QuakeScout
Magnitude6.0

Reviewed by USGSRussia73y ago

M6.0 earthquake 112 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia

Wednesday, October 28, 1953, 12:09:44 UTC · 49.685°N, 155.834°E

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 112 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia on Wednesday, October 28, 1953, 12:09:44 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on October 11, 1953.

Magnitude
6.0
Moderate · 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 earthquake

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

14 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 29 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

137 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

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

  1. 7.8266 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 1, 1915 · 156 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 299 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 148 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.2Kuril IslandsJanuary 18, 1925 · 249 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.0285 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaAugust 1, 1913 · 176 km S of this epicenter
  6. 7.0Kuril IslandsNovember 6, 1951 · 296 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 6.9119 km E of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMarch 24, 1921 · 254 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 6.928 km E of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaSeptember 4, 1953 · 118 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 100 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1737

    Kamchatka

    16 Oct 1737 · 220 km away

    100 deathstsunami

  2. 1841M8.4

    Off Kamchatka

    17 May 1841 · 299 km away · intensity XI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1913M7.7

    Kuril Islands

    1 Aug 1913 · 244 km away

  4. 1929M7.7

    Kuril Islands

    13 Jan 1929 · 75 km away · intensity VII

  5. 1911M7.6

    Near Kamchatka

    4 May 1911 · 235 km away · intensity VII

  6. 1737M7.5

    Kuril Islands

    17 Dec 1737 · 91 km away · intensity IX

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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