Reviewed by USGSRussia90y ago
M6.4 earthquake 164 km SE of Kuril’sk, Russia
Tuesday, February 23, 1937, 00:48:17 UTC · 44.374°N, 149.570°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 164 km SE of Kuril’sk, Russia on Tuesday, February 23, 1937, 00:48:17 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.4 on February 21, 1937.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- 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
69 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 145 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
50 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 M5.9 on February 23, 1937. 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 99 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 · 228 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 198 km E of this epicenter
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 259 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.4170 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaFebruary 21, 1937 · 15 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 47 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 138 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2268 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1910 · 115 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1147 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 18, 1920 · 114 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 35 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 197 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 165 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1937M7.6
Kuril Islands
21 Feb 1937 · 19 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 263 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1918M7.8
Kuril Islands
8 Nov 1918 · 154 km away
tsunami
- 1908M7.6
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1908 · 77 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.