Reviewed by USGSRussia54y ago
M4.2 earthquake 93 km ESE of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia
Monday, March 12, 1973, 19:13:19 UTC · 50.223°N, 157.230°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 93 km ESE of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia on Monday, March 12, 1973, 19:13:19 UTC, at a depth of 68.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 68 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
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
98 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
68 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.4 on March 25, 1973. 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 261 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8266 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 1, 1915 · 260 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.5253 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, RussiaJune 30, 1936 · 274 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.495 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaMay 4, 1911 · 222 km N of this epicenter
- 7.4156 km SE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 31, 1916 · 64 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.297 km NNE of Ozernovskiy, RussiaAugust 17, 1907 · 239 km N of this epicenter
- 7.238 km ESE of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaFebruary 28, 1973 · 54 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0285 km S of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaAugust 1, 1913 · 250 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9251 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaMay 22, 1963 · 257 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 101 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1737
Kamchatka
16 Oct 1737 · 112 km away
100 deathstsunami
- 1959M8.2
Near East Coast Of Kamchatka
4 May 1959 · 298 km away · intensity X
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1841M8.4
Off Kamchatka
17 May 1841 · 205 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1973M7.2
Kuril Islands, Hiroo, Urakawa
28 Feb 1973 · 54 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M8.3
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 233 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M8.1
Off Kamchatka
25 Jun 1904 · 233 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.