On Wednesday, July 30, a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Kamczak Peninsula. The tsunami waves reached Kuryle in Russia and threatened the islands of Japan.
Key facts about the Kamchatka earthquake
On July 30 at 11:24 the local seismographs recorded an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 at a depth of about 32 km under the seabed, 136 km on the ESE from Pietropawłowski Kamczaki.
The shock activated the tsunami wave, which reached up to 5 m high in Siewiero-Kurilsk in the Kuryl Islands, flooded the port, fish processing plant and part of the city streets.
Russian services declared a state of emergency in Kuryl and Sakhalina; evacuations were carried out from coastal areas, and the local energy network suffered damage.
The 1-1.5 m high tsunami waves also reached Hokkaido in Japan and small sea level increases were recorded in Hawaii.
The tsunami waves hit the Russian coast of Kamchatka, flooding the port of Severo-Kurilsk.
Tsunami waves are hitting the Russian coast of Kamchatka, seen here floating the port of Severo-Kurilsk. pic.twitter.com/5HjHCI5eoz
Kamchatka area is one of the most seismicly active places in the world. The collision of the Pacific plate with North American causes regular earthquakes. The current energy has accumulated since the previous great shock in 1952, which allowed a leap into a violent over eight-metre shift. The main phase lasted up to 230 seconds, causing more than 30 strong aftershocks – the strongest of them had 6.9 MW.
Russian EMERCOM sent several hundred rescuers to the islands, where the priority is to assess schools and hospitals and restore power supply. Governor Kamchatki calls for the population to remain in the highlands until further notice, although seismologists consider the risk of secondary destruction to be getting lower. The Japanese Shinkansen trains preventively slowed down to 30km/h, tsunami alerts persist on Hokkaido.
Is the threat over?
According to USGS, further equally strong earthquakes are unlikely in the coming days. However, local floods may still occur after second and subsequent shocks, so the services recommend caution in coastal zones. Inspectors check bridges and ports for hidden damage, and scientists install new sensors for a better analysis of the motions of the earth's crust.
