Reviewed by USGSRussia30y ago
M4.7 earthquake 48 km ESE of Shikotan, Russia
Tuesday, November 5, 1996, 16:07:15 UTC · 43.673°N, 147.296°E
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 48 km ESE of Shikotan, Russia on Tuesday, November 5, 1996, 16:07:15 UTC, at a depth of 59.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on November 2, 1996.
- Magnitude
- 4.7
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 60 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
169 tons of TNT
That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
91 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
60 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 lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on November 24, 1996. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 4.681 km ENE of Shikotan, Russia30y ago · 48 km NE of this epicenter
- 4.536 km SSE of Shikotan, Russia30y ago · 39 km SW of this epicenter
- 4.348 km SSE of Shikotan, Russia30y ago · 49 km SW of this epicenter
- 4.285 km SE of Shikotan, Russia30y ago · 44 km SE of this epicenter
- 4.693 km ESE of Shikotan, Russia30y ago · 46 km SE of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,553 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 · 219 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 131 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km E of Shikotan, RussiaOctober 4, 1994 · 11 km N of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 46 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.9128 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaDecember 3, 1995 · 194 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8217 km ESE of Kuril’sk, RussiaOctober 20, 1963 · 284 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 131 km W of this epicenter
- 7.6134 km SE of Kuril’sk, RussiaMarch 24, 1978 · 141 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 47 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 87 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 214 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 132 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1994M8.3
Kuril Islands; Japan: Hokkaido
4 Oct 1994 · 11 km away · intensity IX
11 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1993M7.6
Hokkadio, Kushiro, Hachinohe, Honshu
15 Jan 1993 · 294 km away · intensity VI
2 deaths$358 million damage
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 168 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 241 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.