Reviewed by USGSRussia112y ago
M6.7 earthquake 153 km E of Shikotan, Russia
Friday, August 6, 1915, 13:12:26 UTC · 43.702°N, 148.619°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 153 km E of Shikotan, Russia on Friday, August 6, 1915, 13:12:26 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on October 13, 1911.
- 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
175 kilotons of TNT
That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 367 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
31 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 12 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 94 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2159 km ENE of Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 6, 1908 · 232 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2268 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1910 · 124 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1Off the coast of Hokkaido, JapanDecember 25, 1900 · 226 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsNovember 24, 1900 · 55 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.949 km E of Nemuro, JapanOctober 13, 1911 · 200 km W of this epicenter
- 6.755 km SW of Shikotan, RussiaDecember 23, 1907 · 192 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5east of the Kuril IslandsFebruary 23, 1906 · 271 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 58 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 285 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 271 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 251 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M7.6
Hokkaido
18 Mar 1904 · 265 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1900M7.9
Kuril Islands
25 Dec 1900 · 226 km away · intensity IX
- 1896M7.6
Kuril Islands
18 Nov 1896 · 212 km away · intensity IX
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.