M5.0 earthquake - 97 km ESE of Shikotan, Russia

What happened

A magnitude 5 earthquake struck 97 km ESE of Shikotan, Russia on 5 Dec 2019, 01:29 UTC at a depth of 10 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Nemuro, about 178 km away in Hokkaido, Japan.