Reviewed by USGSRussia105y ago
M5.8 earthquake 213 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia
Wednesday, February 21, 1923, 00:55:17 UTC · 54.307°N, 162.390°E
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 213 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia on Wednesday, February 21, 1923, 00:55:17 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.9 on February 18, 1923.
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- Moderate · 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
8 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 17 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
52 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 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 23 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.41923 Kamchatka, Russia EarthquakeFebruary 3, 1923 · 126 km W of this epicenter
- 8.043 km E of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, RussiaJanuary 30, 1917 · 211 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, RussiaSeptember 15, 1905 · 189 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 221 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3233 km SE of Atlasovo, RussiaJuly 31, 1915 · 35 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.377 km ESE of Mil’kovo, RussiaFebruary 3, 1923 · 177 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3163 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaFebruary 2, 1923 · 121 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2143 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 27, 1904 · 154 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 15 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 21 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1923M7.2
Near Kamchatka
13 Apr 1923 · 244 km away · intensity X
18 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1923M8.4
Kamchatka
3 Feb 1923 · 126 km away · intensity XI
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1923M7.7
Kamchatka Peninsula
24 Feb 1923 · 77 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1827
Kamchatka
9 Aug 1827 · 295 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1849
Kamchatka
28 Sep 1849 · 245 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1792M8.4
Near Kamchatka
22 Aug 1792 · 43 km away · intensity XI
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.