Earthquake under the Kurile Islands (offshore southeast of Urup Island) on April 19

On April 19, 2013 at 12:05 (JST), there was a M7.0 earthquake (maximum seismic intensity 4) at a depth of 125 km under the Kurile Islands. This event occurred within the Pacific plate. The focal mechanism (CMT solution) had a tension axis in an N-S direction. In the vicinity of the recent event, there were 7 earthquakes of M4.0 or over as of April 30.
For the seismic activity since October 1997, in the region around the recent event, there were M6.3 earthquakes in 2004 and 2007, respectively.
For the seismic activity since January 1885, within the subducting Pacific Plate under the vicinity of the Kurile Islands, there have been earthquakes of M7.0 or over once in twenty years. Among them, the largest was a M8.1 earthquake (maximum seismic intensity 5) that occurred on November 7, 1958. It caused tsunami with a maximum height of 81 cm at Hanasaki, Nemuro City and they were observed along the Pacific coast of the Hokkaido to the Kyushu, and the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk.

Japan Meteorological Agency
[Evaluation of Seismic Activities for April 2013 (May 13, 2013)]