October 9, 1994 Earthquake: Kuril Islands, Russia
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Kuril Islands, Russia on October 9, 1994 at 07:55:39 UTC, 33 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
- October 9, 1994
- Time
- 07:55:39 UTC
- Place
- Kuril Islands, Russia
- Magnitude
- 7.3 (Mw)
- Magnitude scales
- Mw 7.3 · Ms 7.1 · mb 6.5
- Focal depth
- 33 km (21 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 43.905° N, 147.916° E
- Country
- Russia
- Region
- Kamchatka and Kuril Islands
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Mw: moment magnitude, based on the slip on the fault and the area that slipped. 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 (VI) on Iturup. Felt (IV JMA) in the Kushiro area, Hokkaido. Tsunami wave heights (peak-to-trough) from tide stations were 18 cm. at Hanasaki and 6 cm. at Kushiro, Hokkaido. Two events about 2.8 seconds apart observed on broadband displacement seismograms. FAULT PLANE SOLUTION: P-Waves NP1:Strike=28 Dip=77 Slip=90 NP2:Strike=208 Dip=13 Slip=90 Principal Axes: (T) Plg=58 Azm=298 (P) Plg=32 Azm=118 Comment: The focal mechanism is poorly controlled and corresponds to reverse faulting. The preferred fault plane is not determined. RADIATED ENERGY No. of sta: 37 Focal mech. F Energy 6.3+0.9*10**14 Nm MOMENT TENSOR SOLUTION Dep 43 No. of sta: 18 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**19 Nm Mrr=3.35 Mtt=-0.77 Mff=-2.58 Mrt=2.09 Mrf=4.18 Mtf=-1.71 Principal axes: (T) Val=5.70 Plg=63 Azm=293 (N) Val=0.24 Plg=2 Azm=28 (P) Val=-5.95 Plg=27 Azm=119 Best Double Couple:Mo=5.8*10**19 NP1:Strike=215 Dip=18 Slip=98 NP2:Strike=27 Dip=72 Slip=87 CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GDSN L.P.B.: 63S,178C M.W.: 60S,153C Centroid Location: Origin Time 07:55:49.4 0.1 Lat 43.87N 0.00 Lon 147.96E 0.01 Dep 33.2 0.3 Half-duration 10.8 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**19 Nm Mrr=5.42 0.03 Mtt=-2.01 0.02 Mff=-3.41 0.02 Mrt=3.73 0.07 Mrf=6.50 0.09 Mtf=-3.06 0.01 Principal Axes: (T) Val=9.21 Plg=63 Azm=294 (N) Val=0.33 Plg=5 Azm=33 (P) Val=-9.54 Plg=27 Azm=125 Best Double Couple:Mo=9.4*10**19 NP1:Strike=227 Dip=19 Slip=104 NP2:Strike=31 Dip=72 Slip=85
From the USGS event page for usp0006ku9. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.3 | Mw, moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 7.25 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 7.2 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
| 6.93 | Me, energy | Choy, USGS energy magnitude | Reviewed |
| 7.2 | Mww, W-phase moment | Duputel, W-phase inversion | Preliminary |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Felt (VI) on Iturup. Felt (IV JMA) in the Kushiro area, Hokkaido. Tsunami wave heights (peak-to-trough) from tide stations were 18 cm. at Hanasaki and 6 cm. at Kushiro, Hokkaido. Two events about 2.8 seconds apart observed on broadband displacement seismograms. (reference #1053)
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.
- June 17, 1973, Hokkaido Island, Japan
- October 4, 1994, Hokkaido, Kuril Islands, Japan, Russia
- March 24, 1984, Kuril Islands, Russia
- August 11, 1969, Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye, Russia
- June 4, 1893, Kuril Islands, Russia
- November 12, 1958, Kuril Islands, Russia
- February 12, 1961, Kuril Islands, Russia
- October 25, 1881, Hokkaido Island, Japan
- March 24, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- November 6, 1958, Kuril Islands, Russia
- March 22, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- March 23, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- March 22, 1978, Kuril Islands, Russia
- April 9, 1959, Kuril Islands, Russia
- June 10, 1975, Hokkaido, Kuril-Japan, Russia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1994The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1994Recent 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 6605. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp0006ku9, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.