Reviewed by USGSRussia25d ago
M4.1 earthquake 159 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia
Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 19:04:05 UTC · 51.957°N, 160.126°E
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 159 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 19:04:05 UTC, at a depth of 43.1 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 43 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: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
47 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
43 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 50 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km since this event; the largest was M4.4 on September 9, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,465 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 9.089 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaNovember 4, 1952 · 78 km N of this epicenter
- 8.82025 Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia EarthquakeJuly 29, 2025 · 60 km N of this epicenter
- 8.41923 Kamchatka, Russia EarthquakeFebruary 3, 1923 · 282 km N of this epicenter
- 7.976 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaMay 4, 1959 · 147 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8140 km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaSeptember 18, 2025 · 138 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7115 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 90 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5274 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, RussiaJune 25, 1904 · 120 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.597 km ESE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaJune 8, 1993 · 179 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,105 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1952M9.0
Kamchatka Peninsula
4 Nov 1952 · 89 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 175 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1923M8.4
Kamchatka
3 Feb 1923 · 282 km away · intensity XI
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 2025M8.8
Kamchatka Peninsula
29 Jul 2025 · 63 km away · intensity VIII
1 death$10 million damagetsunami
- 1959M8.2
Near East Coast Of Kamchatka
4 May 1959 · 74 km away · intensity X
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 146 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.