Reviewed by USGS111y ago
M5.9 earthquake in Kuril Islands
Saturday, April 28, 1917, 13:53:34 UTC · 45.054°N, 151.916°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck in Kuril Islands on Saturday, April 28, 1917, 13:53:34 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on June 27, 1915.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- 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
11 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 23 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
5 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North American and Eurasian 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 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 238 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 173 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2268 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1910 · 232 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5Kuril IslandsJanuary 19, 1913 · 228 km N of this epicenter
- 6.5east of the Kuril IslandsFebruary 23, 1906 · 77 km S of this epicenter
- 6.5252 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 3, 1908 · 95 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.4150 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaJune 27, 1915 · 204 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.3192 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaJune 7, 1915 · 129 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 12 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 62 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 105 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1908M7.6
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1908 · 151 km away
- 1847M7.5
Kuril Islands
21 Jun 1847 · 105 km away
- 1853
Kuril Islands
Nov 1853 · 270 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.