Reviewed by USGSRussia48y ago
M4.5 earthquake 99 km SSE of Kuril’sk, Russia
Wednesday, August 23, 1978, 09:37:30 UTC · 44.387°N, 148.320°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 99 km SSE of Kuril’sk, Russia on Wednesday, August 23, 1978, 09:37:30 UTC, at a depth of 54.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on August 22, 1978.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 54 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
106 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
54 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 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 885 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 · 107 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 17 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 111 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 295 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 180 km E of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 240 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 46 km E of this epicenter
- 7.555 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 23, 1978 · 61 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 42 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 63 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 242 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 279 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 249 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 281 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 24 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1969M8.2
Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye
11 Aug 1969 · 94 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.