Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago
M6.1 earthquake 197 km SSE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia
Sunday, December 7, 1952, 16:33:17 UTC · 51.400°N, 159.875°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 197 km SSE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia on Sunday, December 7, 1952, 16:33:17 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on November 29, 1952.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 30 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: 100 km aftershock search area
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
35 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
30 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 M6.1 on December 27, 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 114 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 · 136 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 154 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 122 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 69 km E of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 202 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 224 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3163 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaFebruary 2, 1923 · 268 km N of this epicenter
- 7.297 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaAugust 17, 1907 · 238 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 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 · 151 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 135 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 145 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 90 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 90 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1827
Kamchatka
9 Aug 1827 · 201 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.