1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake

Fifth most powerful on record; in Russia ly May 2026 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake 209 0943 SevKur heli View wiki.jpg Russia Kamchatka Krai Helicopter view of the place where Severo-Kurilsk was located before the 1952 tsunami. The site of the modern town, rebuilt at higher level, is not visible. 1952-11-04 16:58:30 893648 iscgem893648 1952 11 05 04:58:30http://www.science.sakhalin.ru/Tsunami/TS_52r.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100420101245/http://www.science.sakhalin.ru/Tsunami/TS_52r.html 20 April 2010 Сливное землетрясение (цунами) 1952 года The 1952 drainage earthquake (tsunami) Sakhalin Regional Museum of Local Lore and the Sakhalin Branch of the All-Russian Cultural Fund Local history bulletin 4 1991 ru 17 October 2020 8.8–9.0 w yMore Info #1829 https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/event-more-info/1829 Tsunami Event Information NOAA 19 September 2022 21.6 km mi 0 on 52.3 161.0 inline, title 11 18 m on 2,336–14,000 dead 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake.jpg The 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake struck off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The w y 8.8–9.0 earthquake occurred on 5 November 1952 at 04:58 local time, triggering a major tsunami that struck the Kuril Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula within the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union.M 9.0 – off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/official19521104165830_30/executive https://web.archive.org/web/20201008102314/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/official19521104165830_30/executive 2020-10-08 2020-10-05 United States Geological Survey live This led to the destruction of many settlements in Sakhalin Oblast and Kamchatka Oblast, while the main impact struck the town of Severo-Kurilsk. It remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Russia and the fifth most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. It was also the deadliest and most damaging tsunami recorded in Russia. 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 therefore denser, the Pacific subducts beneath the Kamchatka Peninsula, which sits on the Okhotsk Sea plate. These two plates meet 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 (60 meters) 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. It generated a tsunami up to 15 meters high and was felt with a maximum intensity of VIII–IX.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 Estimates of the moment magnitude range from (w) 8.8 to 9.0. The earthquake ruptured a patch of the subduction zone which extends from the northern portion of Onekotan to Cape Shipunskii; approximately 700 km long. The rupture width is estimated at 150–200 km. Slip on the rupture patch occurred in a direction perpendicular to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. Unlike most large subduction earthquakes, the greatest fault movement in the 1952 event occurred at deeper depth instead of being closer to the trench. Movement on the fault was inferred to be as deep as 40 km and possibly 60–80 km. Little slip occurred at the trench, leaving it locked and accumulating unreleased elastic energy.MacInnes Weiss Bourgeois Pinegina 2010 Two years prior to the mainshock, a sequence of foreshocks commenced near the epicenter location, as well as the southern edge of the rupture. The aftershock sequence one month after the mainshock was used to define the northern extent of slip.MacInnes Weiss Bourgeois Pinegina 2010 Tsunami A tsunami was generated 130 km nmi mi us off of Kamchatka, striking Severo-Kurilsk with three waves about 15 - 18 m us high.1952 Kamchatka Tsunami https://www.wsspc.org/resources-reports/tsunami-center/significant-tsunami-events/1952-kamchatka-tsunami/ 2020-10-05 Western States Seismic Policy Council 2017-03-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20170322060436/https://www.wsspc.org/resources-reports/tsunami-center/significant-tsunami-events/1952-kamchatka-tsunami/ deadGusiakov V. K. 2016-09-01 Tsunamis on the Russian Pacific coast: history and current situation https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1068797116301389 Russian Geology and Geophysics 57 9 1259–1268 10.1016/j.rgg.2016.08.011 1068-7971 subscription After the earthquake the majority of the Severo-Kurilsk citizens fled to the surrounding hills, where they escaped the first wave. However, most of them returned to the town and were killed by the second wave.https://www.wsspc.org/resources-reports/tsunami-center/significant-tsunami-events/1952-kamchatka-tsunami/ 1952 Kamchatka Tsunami Western States Seismic Policy Council https://web.archive.org/web/20170322060436/https://www.wsspc.org/resources-reports/tsunami-center/significant-tsunami-events/1952-kamchatka-tsunami/ 2017-03-22Shevchenko G. V. В Шевченко Г. Ivelskaya T. N. Н Ивельская Т. Kaistrenko V. M. М Кайстренко В. 2022-12-15 The Tsunami on November 5, 1952 in Severo-Kurilsk and Its Echo in the Next 70 Years https://doi.org/10.7868/S0032874X22040020 Priroda ru 0 4 12–26 10.7868/S0032874X22040020 0032-874X subscription The true number of deaths may have been calculated by authorities, but hidden by late Stalinist censorship. The common estimates vary widely at between 2,336 and 14,000. Severo-Kurilsk was then rebuilt on higher location farther inland, with only the port remaining on the seashore.Google Maps https://www.google.com/maps/place/Severo-Kurilsk,+Sakhalin+Oblast,+Russia,+694550/@50.6768781,156.0838869,4397m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m12!1m5!3m4!2zNTLCsDE4JzAwLjAiTiAxNjHCsDAwJzAwLjAiRQ!8m2!3d52.3!4d161!3m5!1s0x58db6c2fc7a286f5:0x56239f2422d0e5c!8m2!3d50.6683424!4d156.115192!16zL20vMDJkeG0w?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDcyNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw== 2025-07-30 Google Maps en Hawaii property damage Economic damage in Hawaii came from the tsunami waves, where property damage was between $800,000 and $1,000,000 USD in 1952 dollars. The waves caused a cement barge to fly into a freighter in Honolulu harbor. In Hilo, an expensive boathouse was destroyed. A small portion of the bridge connecting Hilo to nearby Coconut Island was damaged from the strong waves along with houses in the area being stripped from their foundations. Coast guard buoys were torn from their anchors.M 9.0 – 89 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/official19521104165830_30/impact United States Geological Survey 2 August 2022 See also List of earthquakes in 1952 List of earthquakes in Russia Russian Tsunami Warning System Russian System of Disaster Management 2025 Kamchatka Peninsula earthquake References PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/ September 4, 2009 United States Geological Survey Version 2008_06.1 International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology Part A, Volume 81A A List of Deadly Earthquakes in the World: 1500–2000 T. R. Utsu 2002 Academic Press First 978-0124406520 706 Sources Slip Distribution of the 1952 Kamchatka Great Earthquake Based on Near-Field Tsunami Deposits and Historical Records http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/bibl/sotrudn/stpineg/slip_distribution.pdf B. T. MacInnes R. Weiss J. Bourgeois T. K. Pinegina 2010 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 100 4 1695–1709 2010BuSSA.100.1695M 10.1785/0120090376 External links ru Сливное землетрясение (цунами) 1952 года 893648 Category:1952 disasters in the Soviet Union Category:History of Sakhalin Oblast 1952 Severo Category:1952 earthquakes 1952 1952 Severo Category:November 1952 in Asia Category:History of the Kuril Islands Category:Earthquakes in the Russian Far East Category:Earthquakes in the Soviet Union