Reviewed by USGSRussia114y ago
M6.6 earthquake 98 km SSW of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia
Wednesday, March 18, 1914, 06:17:39 UTC · 55.433°N, 161.793°E
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 98 km SSW of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia on Wednesday, March 18, 1914, 06:17:39 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on March 18, 1914.
- Magnitude
- 6.6
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
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
104 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and North American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
35 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 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, RussiaSeptember 15, 1905 · 140 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2143 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 27, 1904 · 244 km S of this epicenter
- 6.797 km SE of Mil’kovo, RussiaJuly 24, 1904 · 210 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6202 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, RussiaMarch 18, 1914 · 131 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.682 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, RussiaMarch 6, 1914 · 38 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3Komandorskiye Ostrova, Russia regionAugust 1, 1906 · 299 km E of this epicenter
- 6.2155 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 26, 1904 · 286 km S of this epicenter
- 5.887 km NNW of Kozyrëvsk, RussiaMay 13, 1912 · 219 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. The most severe:
- 1849
Kamchatka
28 Sep 1849 · 271 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1792M8.4
Near Kamchatka
22 Aug 1792 · 160 km away · intensity XI
tsunami
- 1737M7.8
Off Kamchatka
4 Nov 1737 · 76 km away · intensity X
- 1790M7.5
Near Kamchatka
2 Dec 1790 · 160 km away · intensity X
- 1849M7.5
Komandorsky Island
28 Oct 1849 · 271 km away · intensity X
- 1858M7.5
Komandorsky Island
22 Jan 1858 · 271 km away · intensity X
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.