M6.3 earthquake 46 km S of Shikotan, Russia

Saturday, January 21, 1995, 08:47:29 UTC · 43.377°N, 146.720°E

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 46 km S of Shikotan, Russia on Saturday, January 21, 1995, 08:47:29 UTC, at a depth of 58.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on October 9, 1994.

Magnitude: 6.3; Strong · mw
Depth: 59 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: V; Moderate (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

43 kilotons of TNT

That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 89 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

91 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

59 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 100 km

USGS lists 18 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.8 on February 19, 1995. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,317 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 47 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 120 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 164 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 271 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 77 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 65 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1993M7.6
Hokkadio, Kushiro, Hachinohe, Honshu
15 Jan 1993 · 245 km away · intensity VI
2 deaths$358 million damage
1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 114 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers