Reviewed by USGSRussia30y ago
M4.0 earthquake 81 km SE of Shikotan, Russia
Tuesday, April 30, 1996, 18:56:58 UTC · 43.343°N, 147.515°E
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 81 km SE of Shikotan, Russia on Tuesday, April 30, 1996, 18:56:58 UTC, at a depth of 75.3 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 75 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
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
51 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
75 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on May 7, 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 1,514 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 · 231 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 148 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km E of Shikotan, RussiaOctober 4, 1994 · 50 km N of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 26 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.9128 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 3, 1995 · 205 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 287 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 141 km W of this epicenter
- 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 147 km NE 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 85 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 194 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 140 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 50 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 155 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 261 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 155 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.