Kamchatka earthquakes#1952 earthquake

The southern part of the Kamchatka peninsula lies above the convergent plate margin where the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Okhotsk microplate along the line of the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench. The rate of convergence between the two plates is about 86 mm per year.{{Cite web|title=M 7.5 – 221 km SSE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/at00q7qai7/executive|publisher=United States Geological Survey|access-date=25 March 2020}} Earthquakes are generated by rupture along the megathrust boundary between the two plates, within the descending Pacific plate and within the overriding Okhotsk Plate. The northern part of the peninsula lies away from the convergent boundaries of the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench and the Aleutian Trench but across the boundary between two blocks within the North American plate, the Kolyma-Chukotka and Bering Sea microplates. This boundary accommodates both active shortening and right lateral strike-slip across a series of large SW–NE trending faults.{{Cite journal|last1=Imaeva|first1=L.|last2=Gusev|first2=G.|last3=Imaev|first3=V.|last4=Mel'nikova|first4=V.|date=2017|title=Neotectonic activity and parameters of seismotectonic deformations of seismic belts in Northeast Asia|journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences|volume=148|pages=254–264|doi=10.1016/j.jseaes.2017.09.007|bibcode=2017JAESc.148..254I}}

{{Main|1737 Kamchatka earthquake}}

The epicentre of the 1737 earthquake was located at {{coord|52.5|159.5|type:event}}. This earthquake occurred at a depth of 40 km (25 miles). A magnitude of 8.3 M_s (9.0M_w) has been estimated.{{Cite web|url=http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/web_tsus/17371016/17371016.htm|title=Page on tsunami associated with event from West Coast and Alaska warning center|access-date=2009-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515173315/http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/web_tsus/17371016/17371016.htm|archive-date=2009-05-15|url-status=dead}}

{{main|1841 Kamchatka earthquake}}

An earthquake of estimated magnitude 9.0 {{M|w}}, with an epicenter just offshore, which triggered a large tsunami.{{Cite journal|last1=Gusev|first1=A.A.|last2=Shumilina|first2=L.S.|date=2004|title=Recurrence of Kamchatka Strong Earthquakes on a Scale of Moment Magnitudes|url=https://www.emsd.ru/~gusev/2004/gusev_2004_recurrece.pdf|journal=Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth|volume=40|issue=3|pages=206–215}}

{{Main|February 1923 Kamchatka earthquake|April 1923 Kamchatka earthquake and tsunami}}

On February 3, 1923, an estimated magnitude 8.3–8.5 M_w earthquake with an approximate location of {{coord|54.0|161.0|type:event}} triggered a 25-foot tsunami that caused considerable damage in Kamchatka, with a reported 3 deaths.[http://tsun.sscc.ru/TTT_rep.htm Tsunami Laboratory, Novosibirsk, Russia][https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/10_largest_world.php Largest Earthquakes in the World Since 1900] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107224716/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/10_largest_world.php |date=2010-11-07 }} United States Geological Survey The tsunami was still 6 meters (20 feet) high when it reached Hawaii, causing at least one fatality. There was another earthquake and tsunami in April 1923, which caused locally high tsunami runup near Ust' Kamchatsk, leaving a deposit studied by Minoura and others.Minoura, K., Gusiakov, V.G., Kurbatov, A., Takeuti, S., Svendsen, J.I., Bondevik, S., and Oda, T., 1996, Tsunami sedimentation associated with the 1923 Kamchatka earthquake. Sedimentary Geology, v. 106, pp. 145–154.

{{main|1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake}}

The main earthquake struck at 16:58 GMT (November 5, 04:58 local time) on November 4, 1952. Initially assigned a magnitude of 8.2, the quake was revised to 9.0 M_w in later years.[https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1952_11_04.php Historic Earthquakes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825173729/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1952_11_04.php |date=2009-08-25 }} It was also said to be magnitude 9.2. A large tsunami resulted,{{cite journal|author1=MacInnes, B.T.|author2=Weiss, R.|author3=Bourgeois, J.|author4=Pinegina, T.K.|date=2010|title=Slip distribution of the 1952 Kamchatka great earthquake based on near-field tsunami deposits and historical records|journal=Bull. Seismol. Soc. America|volume=100|issue=4|pages=1695–1709}} causing destruction and loss of life around the Kamchatka peninsula and the Kuril Islands. Hawaii was also struck, with estimated damage of up to US$1 million and livestock losses, but no human casualties were recorded. Japan reported no casualties or damage. The tsunami reached as far as Alaska, Chile, and New Zealand.[https://archive.today/20120721025622/http://www.bom.gov.au/info/tsunami/nov_1952.shtml Bureau of Meteorology: Tsunami Information]

The hypocentre was located at {{coord|52.75|159.5|type:event|display=inline}}, at a depth of {{cvt|30|km}}. The length of the subduction zone rupture was {{cvt|600|km}}. Aftershocks were recorded in an area of approximately {{cvt|247,000|km2}}, at depths of between {{cvt|40|and|60|km}}.{{cite journal|url=http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/1/1|title=The aftershock sequence of the Kamchatka earthquake of November 4, 1952|volume=48|issue=1|pages=1–15|journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America|last1=Båth|first1=Markus|last2=Benioff|first2=Hugo|date=January 1958|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220233207/http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/1/1|archive-date=2007-12-20}}{{cite journal|url=http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/50/3/347|title=Three Kamchatka earthquakes|volume=50|issue=3|pages=347–388|journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America|last=Stauder|first=William|date=July 1960|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724151751/http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/50/3/347|archive-date=2011-07-24}} A recent analysis of the tsunami runup distribution based on historical and geological records give some indication as to the slip distribution of the rupture.

{{main|1959 Kamchatka earthquake}}

A magnitude {{M|w}} 8.0 earthquake occurred on May 4, at a hypocentral depth of 20 km, with a maximum felt intensity of VIII MSK.

{{main|2006 Kamchatka earthquake}}

The region of Koryak Autonomous Okrug was struck by an {{M|w}} 7.6 earthquake on April 20 (April 21 local time). It was followed by a large number of aftershocks, including two of {{M|w}} 6.6.{{Cite web|publisher=United States Geological Survey|title=M 7.6 – 80 km NE of Tilichiki, Russia|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp000ef1h/executive#general_summary|access-date=December 11, 2021}} This was a reverse faulting event along the boundary between two microplates within the North American plate. The event caused a 140 km long zone of surface rupture.{{Cite journal|last1=Rogozhin|first1=E.A.|last2=Ovsyuchenko|first2=A.N.|last3=Marakhanov|first3=A.V.|last4=Novikov|first4=S.S.|date=2010|title=A Geological Study of the Epicentral Area of the April 20(21), 2006 Olyutorskii Earthquake|journal=Journal of Volcanology and Seismology|volume=4|issue=2|pages=79–86|doi=10.1134/S0742046310020028|bibcode=2010JVolS...4...79R|s2cid=128628163}}

The {{M|w}} 7.5 earthquake occurred on March 25. The earthquake was the largest to occur in Russia since the 2013 Okhotsk Sea earthquake.{{Cite web|title=M8.3 – Sea of Okhotsk|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000h4jh/executive|access-date=24 May 2013}} It was initially reported as 7.8 {{M|w}}, before being downgraded to 7.5.{{Cite web|title=Russia lifts tsunami warning after Magnitude 7.5 quake off Kuril Islands|website=The Straits Times|date=25 March 2020|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/tsunami-warnings-after-magnitude-78-quake-off-russias-kuril-islands}}

This shock was a result of near-trench intraplate compressional faulting within the descending Pacific plate. The epicenter was in the area of the large-slip region of the 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake, which was an M 9.0 megathrust event. Large compressional activity is more common before, and long after, major compressional events along coupled zones, suggesting interplate strain accumulation.{{cite journal|year=2021|last1=Ye|first1=L.|last2=Lay|first2=T.|authorlink2=Thorne Lay|last3=Kanamori|first3=H.|authorlink3=Hiroo Kanamori|title=The 25 March 2020 MW 7.5 Paramushir, northern Kuril Islands earthquake and major (MW ≥ 7.0) near-trench intraplate compressional faulting|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|volume=556|page=116728|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116728|bibcode=2021E&PSL.55616728Y|s2cid=233944154|issn=0012-821X|doi-access=free}}

In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 285 miles (460 km) away from the epicenter the intensity was felt at 5, objects were falling in buildings and people ran out into the street for safety.{{cite web|title=ЩЕСТВО, ПРОИСШЕСТВИЯ И ЧС|url=https://ia41.ru/2020/03/25/operativnye-gruppy-obsleduyut-zdaniya-posle-silnogo-zemletryaseniya-na-kamchatke/}}{{cite web|title=Жители Петропавловска-Камчатского сняли на видео землетрясение|url=https://www.znak.com/2020-03-25/zhiteli_petropavlovska_kamchatskogo_snyali_na_video_zemletryasenie}}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

A tsunami warning was issued immediately after the earthquake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially said hazardous tsunami waves were possible within 1,000 km of the earthquake's epicentre. It said earthquakes of this strength in the past had caused tsunamis far from the epicentre.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/russia-kuril-islands-earthquake-tsunami-warning-issued-after-75-magnitude-event|title=Russia earthquake: tsunami warning cancelled after 7.5 magnitude event|date=2020-03-25|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-26|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} A tsunami of about {{Convert|0.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} struck Kamchatka.{{Cite web|title=Quake Hits Off Russia's Kuril Islands, Prompting Tsunami Alert|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/25/quake-hits-off-russias-kuril-islands-prompting-tsunami-alert-a69744|website=themoscowtimes.com|date=25 March 2020}}

• {{annotated link|Ring of Fire}}

{{reflist}}

• {{in lang|ru}} [https://archive.today/20130113170324/http://beringisland.ru/quake.shtm Землетрясения на Командорских островах].
• {{in lang|ru}} [http://www.ilovekamchatka.ru/index.php?showtopic=41 Землетрясения на Камчатке: информация, впечатления жетелей Камчатки].

{{Earthquakes in Russia}}

Category:Kamchatka Peninsula

Category:2020 earthquakes

Category:2020 tsunamis

Category:Earthquakes in the Russian Far East

Category:2020 disasters in Russia