An earthquake of Ms 6.7 occurred this evening in the Kuril Islands northeast
of Japan. This area is quite active seismically, however has been relatively quiet
since a Ml 7.2 on Feb 7, 1996. A great quake (Ms 7.9) occurred near this epicenter
on Dec 3, 1995. There have been no earthquakes of Mw>=6.5 in this region of the
Kurils since February 1996 (Mw 7.2), so the area has been experiencing a relative
quiescence.
Historically 232 earthquakes of Ms>=6.5 have occurred in this region since
1843 when our records begin.
This is the largest earthquake in the world since a similar-sized event occurred
in the Kuril Islands on April 28 and the largest shallow depth earthquake since
an MW 6.7 off the Coast of Chile on April 9, 2001. Following are the parameters
for these earthquakes (NEIS):

25May2001 00:40:50.9 44.3N 148.4E 33 MS=6.7 M NEI KURIL ISLANDS
28Apr 2001 04:49:52.9 18.0S 177.0W352 MW=6.7 M NEI FIJI ISLANDS REGION
09Apr 2001 09:00:56.7 32.6S 72.9W 10 MW=6.7 M NEI OFF COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE

For more information see the "World Quakes" link at the top of the board page.