Reviewed by USGSRussia30y ago
M4.2 earthquake 246 km ENE of Kuril’sk, Russia
Thursday, August 8, 1996, 18:22:11 UTC · 45.717°N, 150.955°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 246 km ENE of Kuril’sk, Russia on Thursday, August 8, 1996, 18:22:11 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- 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
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
110 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: 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 1,337 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 · 149 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 238 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.11918 Kuril Islands EarthquakeSeptember 7, 1918 · 133 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.9128 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 3, 1995 · 175 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8east of the Kuril IslandsNovember 8, 1918 · 128 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 115 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6248 km E of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 22, 1991 · 21 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 232 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 32 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 35 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1918M8.3
Kuril Islands
7 Sep 1918 · 49 km away
23 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1780M7.5
Kuril Islands
29 Jun 1780 · 50 km away
12 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 231 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1963M8.5
Kuril Islands
13 Oct 1963 · 139 km away · intensity IX
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1937M7.6
Kuril Islands
21 Feb 1937 · 182 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1913M7.5
Kuril Islands
19 Jan 1913 · 87 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.