Reviewed by USGSRussia105y ago
M6.7 earthquake 237 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia
Friday, February 2, 1923, 01:06:33 UTC · 52.261°N, 161.885°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 237 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia on Friday, February 2, 1923, 01:06:33 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on August 16, 1922.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
169 kilotons of TNT
That is about 11 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 355 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
43 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 16 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 122 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 95 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3233 km SE of Atlasovo, RussiaJuly 31, 1915 · 199 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2143 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 27, 1904 · 141 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.9119 km E of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMarch 24, 1921 · 270 km W of this epicenter
- 6.854 km SSE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJanuary 20, 1914 · 218 km W of this epicenter
- 6.775 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaAugust 16, 1922 · 165 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.797 km SE of Mil’kovo, RussiaJuly 24, 1904 · 249 km NW 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 103 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 297 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1923M8.4
Kamchatka
3 Feb 1923 · 265 km away · intensity XI
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 267 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 199 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 199 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1827
Kamchatka
9 Aug 1827 · 243 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.