Reviewed by USGS101y ago
M6.5 earthquake in Kuril Islands
Wednesday, February 16, 1927, 02:56:31 UTC · 46.363°N, 153.490°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck in Kuril Islands on Wednesday, February 16, 1927, 02:56:31 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on February 16, 1927.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
94 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 197 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
35 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
15 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on February 16, 1927. 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 44 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 · 177 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 206 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8266 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 1, 1915 · 253 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Kuril IslandsJanuary 18, 1925 · 174 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 294 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0285 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaAugust 1, 1913 · 274 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsFebruary 16, 1927 · 22 km N of this epicenter
- 6.9243 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 31, 1922 · 217 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 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 · 181 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 213 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 122 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1922M7.5
Kuril Islands
24 Oct 1922 · 147 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1915M8.1
Kuril Islands
1 May 1915 · 135 km away
- 1918M7.8
Kuril Islands
8 Nov 1918 · 259 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.