Reviewed by USGSRussia32y ago
M4.2 earthquake 103 km E of Shikotan, Russia
Friday, March 3, 1995, 07:46:41 UTC · 43.939°N, 147.991°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 103 km E of Shikotan, Russia on Friday, March 3, 1995, 07:46:41 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 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
82 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
33 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 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.9 on March 11, 1995. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 4.299 km ENE of Shikotan, Russia31y ago · 9 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.394 km E of Shikotan, Russia31y ago · 9 km SW of this epicenter
- 4.3107 km E of Shikotan, Russia31y ago · 4 km E of this epicenter
- 4.6107 km E of Shikotan, Russia31y ago · 12 km SE of this epicenter
- 4.799 km ENE of Shikotan, Russia32y ago · 15 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.9113 km ENE of Shikotan, Russia32y ago · 16 km NE of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,449 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 · 158 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 72 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km E of Shikotan, RussiaOctober 4, 1994 · 57 km W of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 55 km S of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 221 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 194 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6248 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 22, 1991 · 298 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 77 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 48 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 97 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 270 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 195 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 296 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 57 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 227 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 299 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.