Reviewed by USGSRussia80y ago
M7.1 earthquake 142 km E of Shikotan, Russia
Monday, April 14, 1947, 07:15:40 UTC · 43.916°N, 148.482°E
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 142 km E of Shikotan, Russia on Monday, April 14, 1947, 07:15:40 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on December 21, 1946.
- Magnitude
- 7.1
- Major · 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
587 kilotons of TNT
That is about 39 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,230 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
57 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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 120 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 297 km E of this epicenter
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 160 km W of this epicenter
- 7.4170 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaFebruary 21, 1937 · 116 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 77 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 216 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2134 km E of Shikotan, RussiaDecember 21, 1946 · 30 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2268 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1910 · 142 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1Off the coast of Hokkaido, JapanDecember 25, 1900 · 225 km SW 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 81 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 294 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 296 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 265 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 255 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M7.6
Hokkaido
18 Mar 1904 · 268 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1937M7.6
Kuril Islands
21 Feb 1937 · 98 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.