QuakeScout
Magnitude5.9

Reviewed by USGSRussia74y ago

M5.9 earthquake 139 km SSE of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia

Thursday, November 20, 1952, 11:25:58 UTC · 49.522°N, 156.884°E

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 139 km SSE of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia on Thursday, November 20, 1952, 11:25:58 UTC, at a depth of 31.7 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on November 18, 1952.

Magnitude
5.9
Moderate · mw
Depth
32 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

12 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 26 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

67 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

32 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 76 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8266 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 1, 1915 · 186 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 80 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.2Kuril IslandsJanuary 18, 1925 · 291 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.0285 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaAugust 1, 1913 · 168 km S of this epicenter
  5. 6.9119 km E of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMarch 24, 1921 · 229 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 6.9102 km E of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaNovember 4, 1952 · 133 km N of this epicenter
  7. 6.7147 km ESE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaSeptember 24, 1941 · 113 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 6.6112 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 16, 1941 · 66 km NE 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, which together caused about 100 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1737

    Kamchatka

    16 Oct 1737 · 193 km away

    100 deathstsunami

  2. 1841M8.4

    Off Kamchatka

    17 May 1841 · 286 km away · intensity XI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1913M7.7

    Kuril Islands

    1 Aug 1913 · 247 km away

  4. 1929M7.7

    Kuril Islands

    13 Jan 1929 · 153 km away · intensity VII

  5. 1911M7.6

    Near Kamchatka

    4 May 1911 · 261 km away · intensity VII

  6. 1737M7.5

    Kuril Islands

    17 Dec 1737 · 54 km away · intensity IX

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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