M5.5 earthquake 87 km NE of Shikotan, Russia

Thursday, May 18, 1995, 14:31:12 UTC · 44.322°N, 147.536°E

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 87 km NE of Shikotan, Russia on Thursday, May 18, 1995, 14:31:12 UTC, at a depth of 89.4 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on May 16, 1995.

Magnitude: 5.5; Moderate · mw
Depth: 89 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

3 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/6 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

137 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

89 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 75 km

USGS lists 8 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on May 25, 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 1,454 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 85 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 287 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 187 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 63 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 238 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 271 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 83 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers