Reviewed by USGS75y ago
M7.0 earthquake in Kuril Islands
Tuesday, November 6, 1951, 16:40:14 UTC · 47.297°N, 154.050°E
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck in Kuril Islands on Tuesday, November 6, 1951, 16:40:14 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on February 16, 1927.
- Magnitude
- 7.0
- Major · 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
511 kilotons of TNT
That is about 34 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,072 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
67 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
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 200 km
USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.5 on November 12, 1951. 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 90 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11918 Kuril Islands EarthquakeSeptember 7, 1918 · 288 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8266 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 1, 1915 · 141 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kuril IslandsJanuary 18, 1925 · 73 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0285 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaAugust 1, 1913 · 175 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsFebruary 16, 1927 · 90 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0281 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaJune 13, 1929 · 254 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8286 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaJune 13, 1929 · 268 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8Kuril IslandsNovember 2, 1936 · 5 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 23 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 280 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 213 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1922M7.5
Kuril Islands
24 Oct 1922 · 173 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1915M8.1
Kuril Islands
1 May 1915 · 79 km away
- 1913M7.7
Kuril Islands
1 Aug 1913 · 111 km away
- 1929M7.7
Kuril Islands
13 Jan 1929 · 284 km away · intensity VII
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.