M6.7 earthquake 5 km ENE of Uchkent, Russia
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 5 km ENE of Uchkent, Russia on Thu, May 14, 1970, 9:12 PM GMT+3 (18:12 UTC), 12 km (8 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.7 (Mw, moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- ISC-GEM global catalog
- Local time
- UTC
- 1970-05-14 18:12:26 UTC
- Depth
- 12.2 km (7.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 43.137° N, 47.141° E
- Region
- Russia
- Strongest shaking
- VIII, severe shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4530), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 31
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Houses damaged
- Very many (over 1,000)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
From Wikipedia
The 1970 Dagestan earthquake occurred on May 14 at 21:12 MSK, in the Republic of Dagestan, Soviet Union. It had a moment magnitude of 6.7, and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). It was preceded by foreshocks a few hours earlier. The epicenter was located on the territory of the Buynaksky District. As a result of the event, 25 percent of the territory of the republic was affected. The earthquake completely destroyed 257 settlements, including the cities of Makhachkala, Buynaksk, Kaspiysk, Khasavyurt and Kizilyurt. It caused at least 31 fatalities and up to 1,000 injured.
Text from Wikipedia, “1970 Dagestan earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
The article is about the earthquake NOAA’s record describes, matched to this one by date, place and magnitude.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VIII, severe shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 29.9% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 3.7 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.30
- Depth from
- From location
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.7 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.17 km W of Dubki, Russia · 20597 days ago · 20 km deep · 35 km away
- 5.212 km NNW of Shamkhal, Russia · 20597 days ago · 15 km deep · 13 km away
- 5.23 km ESE of Uchkent, Russia · 20597 days ago · 15 km deep · 4 km away
- 5.11 km ENE of Novyy Chirkey, Russia · 20595 days ago · 15 km deep · 7 km away
- 5.56 km SW of Novyy Chirkey, Russia · 20595 days ago · 25 km deep · 11 km away
- 5.110 km ENE of Novyy Chirkey, Russia · 20572 days ago · 15 km deep · 7 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayRussia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem795586 (also filed as atlas19700514181225). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 10:50 PM UTC.