Reviewed by USGSRussia34y ago
M4.8 earthquake 189 km E of Kuril’sk, Russia
Sunday, August 16, 1992, 04:02:59 UTC · 45.081°N, 150.277°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 189 km E of Kuril’sk, Russia on Sunday, August 16, 1992, 04:02:59 UTC, at a depth of 35.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on August 14, 1992.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 36 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
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
84 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
36 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 1,240 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 · 67 km W of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 156 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 268 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.11918 Kuril Islands EarthquakeSeptember 7, 1918 · 161 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 138 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 45 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6248 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 22, 1991 · 77 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 146 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 33 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 35 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 106 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 76 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 150 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1969M8.2
Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye
11 Aug 1969 · 251 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1978M7.5
Kuril Islands
6 Dec 1978 · 296 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1963M8.5
Kuril Islands
13 Oct 1963 · 51 km away · intensity IX
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.