QuakeScout
Magnitude3.7

Reviewed by USGS30y ago

M3.7 earthquake in Kuril Islands

Wednesday, September 18, 1996, 18:21:34 UTC · 43.112°N, 147.530°E

A magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck in Kuril Islands on Wednesday, September 18, 1996, 18:21:34 UTC, at a depth of 67.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
3.7
Minor · mb
Depth
67 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

5 tons of TNT

That is about 1/2,814 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 89 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

29 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

67 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 1,504 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.51963 Kuril Islands EarthquakeOctober 13, 1963 · 250 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 170 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 8.348 km E of Shikotan, RussiaOctober 4, 1994 · 75 km N of this epicenter
  4. 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 44 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.9128 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 3, 1995 · 223 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 142 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 165 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 7.555 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 23, 1978 · 215 km N of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 44 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 85 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1843M8.4

    Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro

    25 Apr 1843 · 176 km away

    45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1973M7.7

    Hokkaido Island

    17 Jun 1973 · 141 km away · intensity VIII

    27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami

  3. 1994M8.3

    Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido

    4 Oct 1994 · 75 km away · intensity IX

    11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1894M7.9

    Off Coast Of Honshu

    22 Mar 1894 · 142 km away · intensity IX

    1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  5. 1938M6.1

    E. Hokkaido Island, Japan

    28 May 1938 · 267 km away

    1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1958M8.3

    Kuril Islands

    6 Nov 1958 · 177 km away · intensity X

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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