The 1995 Neftegorsk earthquake occurred on 28 May at 01:03 local time in northern Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. It was the most destructive earthquake known within the modern borders of Russia, with a magnitude of Mw 7.1 and maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent) that devastated the town of Neftegorsk. Many buildings collapsed, and 1,989 of its 3,977 citizens were killed, with another 750 injured. Infrastructure was catastrophically damaged, leading to Neftegorsk becoming a ghost town. Surface effects from the earthquake were widespread, with many geological features changing or developing. Due to its location along a poorly understood plate boundary, the earthquake received considerable attention from scientists, and dozens of research papers have been written about it.
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