Reviewed by USGSRussia80y ago
M5.9 earthquake 33 km NNE of Otrada, Russia
Tuesday, October 21, 1947, 09:45:41 UTC · 44.361°N, 145.959°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 33 km NNE of Otrada, Russia on Tuesday, October 21, 1947, 09:45:41 UTC, at a depth of 20.8 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on October 10, 1947.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 21 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 25 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
214 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
21 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 91 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 117 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.4170 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaFebruary 21, 1937 · 300 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 242 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2134 km E of Shikotan, RussiaDecember 21, 1946 · 208 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1Off the coast of Hokkaido, JapanDecember 25, 1900 · 151 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1142 km E of Shikotan, RussiaApril 14, 1947 · 207 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsNovember 24, 1900 · 189 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.079 km S of Korsakov, RussiaSeptember 6, 1911 · 298 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 47 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 263 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 207 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 157 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M7.6
Hokkaido
18 Mar 1904 · 207 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1937M7.6
Kuril Islands
21 Feb 1937 · 274 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1839M7.3
Se. Hokkaido Island, Japan
1 May 1839 · 221 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.