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The most powerful earthquake in the last 70 years has occurred off the coast of Kamchatka

Vedomosti

Russia

Wednesday, July 30


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The most powerful earthquake in the last 70 years with a magnitude of 8.8 occurred in Kamchatka on July 30. Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka branch of the Unified Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences (UGS RAS), called it an event of almost planetary scale.

The intensity of the tremors in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was 6 points. For such a magnitude, this is an abnormally low value, noted Chebrov (quoted by Nauchnaya Rossiya). Against the background of the main shock, two new earthquakes were also recorded off the coast of the Kuril Islands - with a magnitude of 5.1 and 5. On the island of Shikotan and in Severo-Kurilsk, tremors of up to 3 points were felt.

After the tremors in the Sakhalin Region, the first tsunami wave also arrived there. With a magnitude of 8.8, the wave height can reach 10 m, but in fact it was 3-4 m, Chebrov said. These figures are still considered strong and dangerous. In particular, waves of about 4 m were observed in the coastal zone of Severo-Kurilsk, the RAS website cites Ivan Kulakov, chief researcher at the seismic tomography laboratory of the A.A. Trofimuk Institute of Oil and Gas Geology and Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

On the same day at 23:55 local time (14:55 Moscow time) the Klyuchevskoy volcano began erupting in Kamchatka, the Federal Research Center of the Unified Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences also reported on its Telegram channel. The volcano ejected ash to a height of up to 3 km, and lava was observed flowing down the western slope.

Earthquakes of this kind occur on average once every five years, and there have been four of them since the beginning of the 21st century, notes Petr Shabalin, director of the Institute of Earthquake Forecast Theory and Mathematical Geophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to him, the effect of a compressed spring has worked in the area of southern Kamchatka - the earthquake potential that has been accumulating since 1952 has completely decompressed in our days. Large earthquakes occur at the junction of the Pacific and Eurasian tectonic plates, and there has been very little mutual movement between them over the past 70 years. Now the spring has decompressed in this area and the plates have shifted by several meters, the expert explained.

Previous major earthquakes

The last earthquake in the Kamchatka region with a magnitude of 9 occurred in November 1952. The subsequent tsunami waves reached 18 m in height, which led to significant destruction in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands, the Russian Academy of Sciences noted. The US Geological Survey (USGS), in turn, counts from 1900, when another major earthquake occurred in the region - with a magnitude of 8.8.

Following the tsunami and tremors, a state of emergency was declared in Sakhalin and Kamchatka. This decision was made by the authorities of the Severo-Kurilsky District and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the press service of the Sakhalin Region government reported on its Telegram channel. The tsunami threat in the Severo-Kurilsky District and Kamchatka was cancelled at around 11:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. Moscow time).

The Remainers

Kamchatka Health Minister Oleg Melnikov reported on a Telegram channel that several victims were injured without serious injuries. In particular, a woman received medical assistance in the building of the Elizovo International Airport, her condition is satisfactory, he specified.

As the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov noted, all warning systems in Kamchatka worked properly, people were evacuated, so thank God, there are no victims. He also noted the seismic resistance of buildings and the technological preparedness of the region for natural disasters.

An earthquake in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky caused a part of the facade of kindergarten No. 15, which was undergoing repairs, to collapse, the regional minister for emergency situations Sergey Lebedev reported in a video message on his VKontakte page. There were no children inside. According to the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, most of the buildings in the region remained standing.

The regional government announced the creation of temporary accommodation centers for residents who are afraid to remain in their homes. The announcement specified that there is currently no danger of staying in the housing stock.

Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko also reported on his Telegram channel that an inspection of buildings and utilities will begin in Severo-Kurilsk in the near future. And Kamchatka Krai Governor Vladimir Solodov ordered that the oncology clinic doctors who did not interrupt the operation during the strongest tremors be presented with state awards.

Aftershocks

Strong, noticeable aftershocks will continue for at least another month, conclude experts from the Kamchatka branch of the Unified Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences in their Telegram channel. According to Chebrov, their magnitude may reach 7.5, but this process should not be destructive. Shabalin did not rule out the possibility of aftershocks in the epicenter of the earthquake with a magnitude below 6. He also believes that they will not cause serious harm to residents of the region. The threat of tsunamis has increased in Kamchatka and other areas of the Pacific coast, Kulakov added.

From Japan to Chile

Following strong tremors off the coast of Kamchatka, powerful tsunami waves hit the coasts of the Kuril Islands, Japan, Hawaii and California. Due to the bad weather, Japanese authorities evacuated more than 2 million residents of 229 municipalities in the prefectures of Hokkaido and the Tohoku region, and also urged citizens to stay away from the coast. Natural phenomena disrupted air and rail traffic throughout Japan. In addition, nuclear power plants on the Pacific coast were shut down.

Wave activity also increased on the coast of Northern California (USA), which in some places led to coastal flooding. Due to the threat of a tsunami in the Hawaiian Islands, state authorities in the first hours ordered their residents to move to higher ground, but then rescinded their order, leaving in effect severe weather warnings.

Affected companies

Alaid belongs to the former top manager of Interros, ex-CEO of the Rosa Khutor resort Sergei Bachin. The company produces, in particular, cod, pollock, flounder, scallops, which are processed at its own enterprise on the shore. Alaid's revenue decreased in 2024 by 17.3% to 1.2 billion rubles. The company ended the year with a loss of 1.5 billion rubles against a profit of 74.3 million rubles a year earlier. The North Kuril Base of the Seiner Fleet (JSC SK BSF) is part of the Salmonica Group, which fishes for salmon on the coast of Kamchatka. SK BSF's revenue in 2024 increased by 34.7% to 6 billion rubles, net profit - by 65.6% to 1.4 billion rubles. Granis LLC also specializes in salmon fishing. The company's revenue in 2024 amounted to RUB 619.6 million, up 2.2% from the previous year, and net profit increased by 27.1% to RUB 120.5 million.

Small tsunami waves up to 30 cm high hit parts of Canada's Vancouver Island in the west of the country. Soon, the British Columbia provincial emergency preparedness agency warned residents of further multiple waves in the region and suggested that authorities prepare to evacuate citizens if necessary. In Mexico, authorities asked residents of the entire Pacific coast - from Baja California to Chiapas - not to go into the ocean.

In Chile, the national tsunami warning system warned of a threat to the entire coastline of the country. At the same time, the US Embassy in Santiago advised its citizens to move to safe areas of the country. Similar warnings were issued by the authorities of Peru. The authorities of French Polynesia announced a threat of a tsunami of up to 4 m in height in the Marquesas Islands on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. The Philippine government called on residents of the east coast to move inland, and local fishermen who are at sea to stay away from the shore, in deep waters.

Consequences for nature and business

The Kamchatka earthquake and subsequent tsunami did not cause significant damage to the Pacific Ocean ecosystem and led only to local destruction in the Far East and Pacific countries, says Shabalin. Fishing for aquatic bioresources continues as usual, with the exception of coastal areas of the Sakhalin Region, the press service of the Federal Agency for Fishery said in a statement. There, the Alaid fish processing plant, the enterprises of JSC SK BSF and OOO Granis were flooded, and the fish-breeding workshops of the fish-breeding plant of OOO Azimut were flooded. All workers were evacuated, there were no casualties, the statement said.

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