March 24, 1984 Earthquake: Kuril Islands, Russia
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Kuril Islands, Russia on March 24, 1984 at 09:44:02 UTC, 44 km below the surface. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- March 24, 1984
- Time
- 09:44:02 UTC
- Place
- Kuril Islands, Russia
- Magnitude
- 7 (Ms)
- Magnitude scales
- Ms 7 · mb 6.1
- Focal depth
- 44 km (27 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 44.117° N, 148.192° E
- Country
- Russia
- Region
- Kamchatka and Kuril Islands
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt (V) at Yuzhno-Kurilsk and (IV) on Shikotan. Felt (II JMA) at Nemuro, Obihiro and Urakawa, Hokkaido, and at Hachinohe and Miyako, Honshu. Fourteen cm. tsunami at Nemuro, Hokkaido. Possible multiple event. FAULT PLANE SOLUTION: P-Waves NP1:Strike=45 Dip=65 Slip=90 NP2:Strike=225 Dip=25 Slip=90 Principal Axes: (T) Plg=70 Azm=315 (P) Plg=20 Azm=135 Comment: The focal mechanism is poorly controlled and corresponds to reverse faulting. The preferred fault plane is NP2. CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GDSN L.P.B.: 20S, 54C M.W.: 14S, 37C Centroid Location: Origin Time 09:44:15.9 0.1 Lat 44.17N 0.01 Lon 148.62E 0.02 Dep 30.6 0.9 Half-duration 13.5 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**26 D-CM Mrr=3.43 0.05 Mtt=-1.45 0.03 Mff=-1.97 0.04 Mrt=2.53 0.14 Mrf=4.79 0.19 Mtf=-1.59 0.02 Principal Axes: (T) Val=6.49 Plg=60 Azm=292 (N) Val=-0.22 Plg=5 Azm=31 (P) Val=-6.27 Plg=29 Azm=124 Best Double Couple:Mo=6.4*10**26 NP1:Strike=229 Dip=17 Slip=109 NP2:Strike=30 Dip=74 Slip=85
From the USGS event page for usp00022y2. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.2 | Mw, moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 7.14 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 7.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 4, 1994, Hokkaido, Kuril Islands, Japan, Russia
- October 9, 1994, Kuril Islands, Russia
- November 12, 1958, Kuril Islands, Russia
- November 6, 1958, Kuril Islands, Russia
- March 24, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- August 11, 1969, Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye, Russia
- March 23, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- March 22, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- March 22, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- April 9, 1959, Kuril Islands, Russia
- June 11, 1965, Kuril Islands, Russia
- June 30, 1924, Kuril Islands, Russia
- October 12, 1963, Kuril Islands, Russia
- March 23, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- April 5, 1901, Kuril Islands, Russia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1984The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1984Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 6466. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp00022y2, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.