Reviewed by USGSRussia49y ago
M4.8 earthquake 84 km SE of Kuril’sk, Russia
Monday, May 22, 1978, 14:32:59 UTC · 44.641°N, 148.559°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 84 km SE of Kuril’sk, Russia on Monday, May 22, 1978, 14:32:59 UTC, at a depth of 81.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on May 14, 1978.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 81 km
- Intermediate
- 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
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
118 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: intermediate
81 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 872 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.51963 Kuril Islands EarthquakeOctober 13, 1963 · 77 km E of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 19 km S of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 145 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.11918 Kuril Islands EarthquakeSeptember 7, 1918 · 299 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 272 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 157 km E of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 272 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 50 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 38 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 62 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 273 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 250 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 220 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 12 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1969M8.2
Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye
11 Aug 1969 · 127 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1978M7.5
Kuril Islands
6 Dec 1978 · 157 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.