Reviewed by USGSRussia107y ago
M7.1 earthquake 147 km E of Kuril’sk, Russia
Monday, October 18, 1920, 08:11:40 UTC · 45.390°N, 149.741°E
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 147 km E of Kuril’sk, Russia on Monday, October 18, 1920, 08:11:40 UTC, at a depth of 60.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.8 on November 8, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 7.1
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 60 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
629 kilotons of TNT
That is about 42 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,318 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
136 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
60 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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 22 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 · 207 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 187 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 115 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 25 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2268 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1910 · 221 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsNovember 24, 1900 · 252 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.7153 km E of Shikotan, RussiaAugust 6, 1915 · 208 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5Kuril IslandsJanuary 19, 1913 · 231 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 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 · 138 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 114 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 188 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1918M7.8
Kuril Islands
8 Nov 1918 · 170 km away
tsunami
- 1908M7.6
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1908 · 48 km away
- 1847M7.5
Kuril Islands
21 Jun 1847 · 188 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.