Reviewed by USGSRussia31y ago
M3.8 earthquake 87 km S of Shikotan, Russia
Sunday, January 21, 1996, 03:10:53 UTC · 43.020°N, 146.831°E
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 87 km S of Shikotan, Russia on Sunday, January 21, 1996, 03:10:53 UTC, at a depth of 81.4 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.8
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 81 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
54 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: intermediate
81 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 M4.9 on February 6, 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 1,398 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 · 296 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 210 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km E of Shikotan, RussiaOctober 4, 1994 · 93 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 92 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.11952 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMarch 4, 1952 · 262 km W of this epicenter
- 7.9128 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 3, 1995 · 269 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 281 km S of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 88 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 46 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 · 132 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 263 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 86 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 93 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1993M7.6
Hokkadio, Kushiro, Hachinohe, Honshu
15 Jan 1993 · 257 km away · intensity VI
2 deaths$358 million damage
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 89 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.