Reviewed by USGS30y ago
M4.3 earthquake east of the Kuril Islands
Sunday, May 26, 1996, 10:08:17 UTC · 44.002°N, 150.312°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck east of the Kuril Islands on Sunday, May 26, 1996, 10:08:17 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
16 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,592 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 · 117 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 155 km W of this epicenter
- 8.348 km E of Shikotan, RussiaOctober 4, 1994 · 241 km W of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 211 km W of this epicenter
- 8.11918 Kuril Islands EarthquakeSeptember 7, 1918 · 194 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.9128 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 3, 1995 · 109 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 162 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 83 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 38 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 46 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 191 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 161 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 241 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 153 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1969M8.2
Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye
11 Aug 1969 · 199 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1963M8.5
Kuril Islands
13 Oct 1963 · 95 km away · intensity IX
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.