Reviewed by USGSRussia90y ago
M5.9 earthquake 223 km ESE of Kuril’sk, Russia
Tuesday, February 23, 1937, 13:51:15 UTC · 44.556°N, 150.546°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 223 km ESE of Kuril’sk, Russia on Tuesday, February 23, 1937, 13:51:15 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on February 23, 1937.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 25 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
12 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 25 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
24 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
25 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 104 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 · 148 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 118 km E of this epicenter
- 7.4170 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaFebruary 21, 1937 · 66 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 123 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 128 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2268 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1910 · 131 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1147 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 18, 1920 · 112 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsNovember 24, 1900 · 235 km SW 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 · 129 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 97 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1937M7.6
Kuril Islands
21 Feb 1937 · 91 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 197 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1922M7.5
Kuril Islands
24 Oct 1922 · 289 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1918M7.8
Kuril Islands
8 Nov 1918 · 76 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.