Reviewed by USGSRussia31y ago
M3.8 earthquake 81 km SSE of Kuril’sk, Russia
Sunday, January 21, 1996, 01:55:20 UTC · 44.537°N, 148.242°E
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 81 km SSE of Kuril’sk, Russia on Sunday, January 21, 1996, 01:55:20 UTC, at a depth of 95.7 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.8
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 96 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: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
8 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,992 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 63 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
123 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
96 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 50 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.1 on January 22, 1996. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,660 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 · 105 km E of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 20 km E of this epicenter
- 8.348 km E of Shikotan, RussiaOctober 4, 1994 · 112 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 125 km S of this epicenter
- 7.9128 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 3, 1995 · 85 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 298 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 184 km E of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 245 km SW 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 74 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 246 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 278 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 248 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 112 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 290 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
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.