Reviewed by USGS109y ago
M7.8 earthquake east of the Kuril Islands
Friday, November 8, 1918, 04:38:09 UTC · 44.830°N, 151.993°E
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck east of the Kuril Islands on Friday, November 8, 1918, 04:38:09 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.1 on September 7, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 7.8
- Major · 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
8.4 megatons of TNT
That is about 557 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 17,579 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
17 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 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 16 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 · 32 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 240 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 189 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2268 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1910 · 217 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.7153 km E of Shikotan, RussiaAugust 6, 1915 · 296 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5Kuril IslandsJanuary 19, 1913 · 254 km N of this epicenter
- 6.5east of the Kuril IslandsFebruary 23, 1906 · 53 km S of this epicenter
- 6.5254 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaSeptember 14, 1918 · 81 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 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 · 84 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 81 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 130 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1918M7.8
Kuril Islands
8 Nov 1918 · 54 km away
tsunami
- 1908M7.6
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1908 · 158 km away
- 1847M7.5
Kuril Islands
21 Jun 1847 · 130 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.