QuakeScout
Magnitude6.6

Reviewed by USGSRussia114y ago

M6.6 earthquake 202 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia

Wednesday, March 18, 1914, 04:20:15 UTC · 54.426°N, 162.856°E

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 202 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia on Wednesday, March 18, 1914, 04:20:15 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.8 on September 15, 1905.

Magnitude
6.6
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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

133 kilotons of TNT

That is about 9 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 279 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

29 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.4 on March 27, 1914. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M5M61h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M6.6
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 6.4274 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia114y ago · 73 km S of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, RussiaSeptember 15, 1905 · 163 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 251 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 7.2143 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 27, 1904 · 185 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 6.797 km SE of Mil’kovo, RussiaJuly 24, 1904 · 216 km W of this epicenter
  5. 6.682 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, RussiaMarch 6, 1914 · 122 km N of this epicenter
  6. 6.3Komandorskiye Ostrova, Russia regionAugust 1, 1906 · 217 km E of this epicenter
  7. 6.2155 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 26, 1904 · 211 km SW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1849

    Kamchatka

    28 Sep 1849 · 212 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1792M8.4

    Near Kamchatka

    22 Aug 1792 · 73 km away · intensity XI

    tsunami

  3. 1899M7.9

    Kamchatka Peninsula

    23 Nov 1899 · 299 km away

  4. 1737M7.8

    Off Kamchatka

    4 Nov 1737 · 120 km away · intensity X

  5. 1905M7.8

    Komandorsky Island

    15 Sep 1905 · 176 km away

  6. 1790M7.5

    Near Kamchatka

    2 Dec 1790 · 73 km away · intensity X

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages