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1918 Kuril Islands earthquake and tsunami
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Natural disaster in the northwest Pacific
44.998 N 152.320 E inline,title Russia Kuril Islands
1918-09-07 17:16:27 913260 iscgem913260 1918 9 8 y 04:16:27 MAGT (UTC+11) w y 8.1 15 km mi 0 on Kuril Islands, Russia 6 12 m ft 23 fatalities, 7 injuries
The 1918 Kuril Islands earthquake occurred on 8 September at 04:16 MAGT (17:16 UTC on 7 September), with a moment magnitude of 8.1.M 8.1 - east of the Kuril Islands 1918 iscgem913260 The earthquake generated a tsunami that affected across the North Pacific Ocean killing 23 people and injuring seven others.National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information Tsunami Event Information https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/event-more-info/1457 24 June 2025
Tectonic setting
The earthquake occurred off the Kamchatka Peninsula's east coast, which runs parallel to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, the area where the Pacific and Okhotsk Sea plates converge. Being older and denser, the Pacific plate subducts beneath the Kamchatka Peninsula, which sits on the Okhotsk Sea Plate. These plates subduct along a convergent boundary, marked by the trench. The subduction zone is seismogenic and produces Kamchatka earthquakes, which occasionally generate tsunamis. Earthquakes associated with the Kuril-Kamchatka subduction zone are of the megathrust type. The subduction zone is associated with at least two known ~9.0 w earthquakes in the pre-instrumental period; 1737 and 1841.Chubarov L.B. V. K. Gusiakov Tsunamis and earthquake mechanism in the island arc region Science of Tsunami Hazards 3 1 3–21 The 1737 earthquake measured w 9.0–9.3, and generated the largest known tsunami on the peninsula.V.K. Gusiakov Two great kamchatka tsunamis, 1737 and 1952 2000 IUGG Tsunami Commission http://bosques.ciren.cl/bitstream/handle/123456789/28986/Two%20great%20Kamchatka%20Tsunamis%2C%201737%20and%201952.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 8 July 2021 Institute of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences paper https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190438/http://bosques.ciren.cl/bitstream/handle/123456789/28986/Two%20great%20Kamchatka%20Tsunamis%2C%201737%20and%201952.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 2021-07-09 dead Another w 9.0 earthquake struck the peninsula on May 17, 1841 and generated a tsunami up to 15 meters high.Alexander A Gusev L.S. Shumilina Recurrence of Kamchatka strong earthquakes on a scale of moment magnitudes Izvestiya Physics of the Solid Earth 2004 40 3 206–215 http://www.emsd.ru/~gusev/2004/gusev_2004_recurrece.pdf
Earthquake
The earthquake had an epicenter located in the Pacific Ocean, from the island of Urup which is a part of the southern Kuril Islands. The earthquake had a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). The seismic shaking produced by this earthquake was also reported in parts of Japan. The event most likely occurred on the subduction zone based on the presence of the large tsunami and felt area. About two-thirds of the northern rupture zone may have re-ruptured in a w 8.5 earthquake in 1963.Lay Thorne Kanamori Hiroo Ammon Charles J. Hutko Alexander R. Furlong Kevin Rivera Luis The 2006–2007 Kuril Islands great earthquake sequence Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 2009 114 B11 10.1029/2008JB006280 Adjacent sections of the subduction zone ruptured during the 1963 and 2006 earthquakes. In November 1918, a w 7.8 earthquake occurred 160 km away from the September event.Hashimoto Tetsuo Yokota Takashi Successive Occurrence of Large Earthquakes Along the Kuril Trench Journal of Disaster Research 2022 17 6 1059-1067 10.20965/jdr.2022.p1059 https://www.fujipress.jp/jdr/dr/dsstr001700061059/ free
Tsunami
The mainshock generated a tsunami with a height of 12 m ft along the Kuril Islands. The tsunami killed 23 people and injured 7 others. Nineteen homes were also damaged.
See also
List of earthquakes in 1918
List of earthquakes in Russia
References
External links
913260
Category:September 1918 in Asia
Category:Megathrust earthquakes in Russia
Category:1910s tsunamis
Category:Earthquakes in the Russian Far East
Category:1918 earthquakes
Category:1918 in Russia
Category:Tsunamis in Russia
Category:1918 in Asia
Category:History of the Kuril Islands