Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago
M5.6 earthquake 153 km ESE of Ozernovskiy, Russia
Friday, November 21, 1952, 02:28:08 UTC · 50.745°N, 158.338°E
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 153 km ESE of Ozernovskiy, Russia on Friday, November 21, 1952, 02:28:08 UTC, at a depth of 25.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.9 on November 20, 1952.
- Magnitude
- 5.6
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 26 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
4 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/4 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 9 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
85 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
26 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.9 on December 12, 1952. 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 100 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 · 231 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 261 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 243 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 180 km E of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 181 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 107 km S of this epicenter
- 7.297 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaAugust 17, 1907 · 209 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.9119 km E of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMarch 24, 1921 · 73 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 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 · 253 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 · 142 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 147 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 147 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1827
Kamchatka
9 Aug 1827 · 251 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.