Reviewed by USGSKyrgyzstan112y ago
M6.5 earthquake 102 km SSE of Ak-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
Friday, December 17, 1915, 07:05:04 UTC · 41.702°N, 79.139°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 102 km SSE of Ak-Suu, Kyrgyzstan on Friday, December 17, 1915, 07:05:04 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.0 on January 3, 1911.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 20 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 178 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
954 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Indian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
20 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 3 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 450 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1911M8.0
Alma-Ata, Turkestan; Afghanistan
3 Jan 1911 · 235 km away · intensity X
450 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1716M7.5
S Xinjiang: Aksu, Balkhash
1716 · 112 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1889M8.3
Cilik, Alma-Ata
11 Jul 1889 · 170 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1887M7.3
Vernensk
8 Jun 1887 · 247 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1893M6.5
Xinjiang
25 Dec 1893 · 112 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1786M6.0
Xinjiang
18 Jun 1786 · 289 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.