Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago
M6.7 earthquake 78 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia
Saturday, November 29, 1952, 08:22:43 UTC · 52.827°N, 159.725°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 78 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia on Saturday, November 29, 1952, 08:22:43 UTC, at a depth of 23.7 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on November 4, 1952.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 24 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VI
- Strong (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
175 kilotons of TNT
That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 367 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
110 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
24 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 M6.0 on November 30, 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 118 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 · 23 km S of this epicenter
- 8.41923 Kamchatka, Russia EarthquakeFebruary 3, 1923 · 191 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 38 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 203 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 196 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 180 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3233 km SE of Atlasovo, RussiaJuly 31, 1915 · 207 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.377 km ESE of Mil’kovo, RussiaFebruary 3, 1923 · 170 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,103 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1952M9.0
Kamchatka Peninsula
4 Nov 1952 · 24 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 225 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1923M8.4
Kamchatka
3 Feb 1923 · 191 km away · intensity XI
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 149 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 104 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 104 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.