Earthquake Catalogue of the Former Soviet Union

On behalf of the EU and in close cooperation between the BGR and the Institute of Physics of the Earth, Moscow, a revised earthquake catalogue was compiled for the former Soviet Union. For this purpose, the catalogues available there were revised and new parameters added, using an extended uniform format. The catalogue covers the period from about 500 BC to 1998 AD.

The Earthquake catalogue Download (zip, 243 KB) with explanations as well as the whole published report Download (zip, 9 MB) with figures and the listed catalogue are available as ZIP-files. If you download the catalogue, please send us your name and address by email, it's interesting for us to know who works with the catalogue.

Epicenter map:

Earthquake Catalogue of the Former Soviet Union Source: BGR

On the epicenter map it can be clearly seen that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge extends via the Nansen Ridge in the Arctic Ocean to the Siberian Platform. This ridge is the boundary between the Eurasian and North American plate. The distribution of epicenters shows that the boundary between the plates is not clearly defined.

Map of earthquake epicenters within the former Soviet Union for the period from about 500 BC – AD 1989. The size of the symbols is determined by the magnitude of the earthquakes, their color by the focal depth:

shallow: 0–75 km (red), medium depth: 75–300 km (green), deep: 300–700 km (blue).

Reference:

SHEBALIN,N.V. & G.LEYDECKER (1997): Earthquake Catalogue for the Former Soviet Union and Borders up to 1988. -- 135 pp., 13 fig.; European Commission, Report No. EUR 17245 EN, Nuclear Science and Technology Series. ISSN 1018-5593 - Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.