Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago
M6.0 earthquake 56 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia
Sunday, November 30, 1952, 19:28:51 UTC · 52.956°N, 159.454°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 56 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia on Sunday, November 30, 1952, 19:28:51 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on November 29, 1952.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 20 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
17 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 35 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
133 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
20 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 M5.7 on December 2, 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 119 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 · 43 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.41923 Kamchatka, Russia EarthquakeFebruary 3, 1923 · 183 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 59 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 226 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 216 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 170 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3233 km SE of Atlasovo, RussiaJuly 31, 1915 · 213 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.377 km ESE of Mil’kovo, RussiaFebruary 3, 1923 · 156 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 15 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 · 46 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 229 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1923M8.4
Kamchatka
3 Feb 1923 · 183 km away · intensity XI
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 145 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 111 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 111 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.