QuakeScout
Magnitude5.9

Reviewed by USGSRussia83y ago

M5.9 earthquake 108 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia

Monday, September 25, 1944, 16:15:42 UTC · 53.034°N, 160.238°E

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 108 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia on Monday, September 25, 1944, 16:15:42 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.1 on September 23, 1944.

Magnitude
5.9
Moderate · 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 earthquake

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

9 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 19 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

97 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 75 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 63 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.41923 Kamchatka, Russia EarthquakeFebruary 3, 1923 · 162 km N of this epicenter
  2. 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 30 km S of this epicenter
  3. 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 203 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 208 km S of this epicenter
  5. 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 221 km SW of this epicenter
  6. 7.3233 km SE of Atlasovo, RussiaJuly 31, 1915 · 166 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.377 km ESE of Mil’kovo, RussiaFebruary 3, 1923 · 152 km N of this epicenter
  8. 7.3163 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaFebruary 2, 1923 · 87 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 103 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1737

    Kamchatka

    16 Oct 1737 · 264 km away

    100 deathstsunami

  2. 1923M8.4

    Kamchatka

    3 Feb 1923 · 162 km away · intensity XI

    3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami

  3. 1841M8.4

    Off Kamchatka

    17 May 1841 · 190 km away · intensity XI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  4. 1904M8.3

    Off Kamchatka

    25 Jun 1904 · 142 km away · intensity X

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1904M8.1

    Off Kamchatka

    25 Jun 1904 · 142 km away · intensity X

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1923M7.7

    Kamchatka Peninsula

    24 Feb 1923 · 260 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages