9.0 magnitude earthquake which resulted into tsunami, causing huge destruction and loss of human life's

1. 1952 KAMCHATKA
EARTHQUAKE
CHETAN KARWA

2. ABOUT THE PLACE
• Kamchatka Peninsula is in far
eastern Russia
• It is about 750 miles (1,200 km)
long north-south and about 300
miles (480 km) across at its
widest
• Its area is approximately
140,000 square miles (370,000
square km)
Figure 1 : Location of Kamchatka Peninsula

3. • The peninsula has a high
density volcanic
belts containing around
160 volcanoes
• The Kuril-Kamchatka
region is characterized by a
very high level of seismic
and volcanic activities
• It is one of the
main tsunami-prone areas
in the Pacific
• The Kamchatka Peninsula
is also known as the "land
of fire and ice" Figure 2 : Image showing earthquake
occurring in and around Russia after
1900,most happen in Kamchatka Area

4. Figure 3 : Historical tsunamigenic
earthquakes of Kamchatka and
North Kuriles for the period from
1737 to 1999 (above)
and I(t) diagram (tsunami intensity
versus time) (below).
The size of the circles is
proportional to the magnitude Ms,
the density of the gray scale – to the
tsunami intensity I.
Black triangles in the upper figure
show the positions of active
volcanoes.

5. • The Kamchatka Tsunami was generated on
November 4, 1952, in East Russia
• The main earthquake struck at 16:58 GMT (04:58
local time)
• Initially assigned a magnitude of 8.2, the quake
was revised to 9.0 Mw in later years
• The hypocentre is located at 52.75°N 159.5°E , at a
depth of 30 km
• The length of the subduction zone fracture
was 600 km
• The local tsunami, which generated waves as high
as 50 feet
Figure 4 : Interpreted rupture location
of 20th century
Figure 5 : Destruction by earthquake

6. • The earthquake has generated a
destructive tsunami, that destroyed
several coastal villages in the northern
Kuriles and the southern Kamchatka and was
observed almost everywhere in the Pacific
• Waves traveled as far as Peru, Chili and New
Zealand, but the largest damage to other
areas of the Pacific Ocean occurred in the
Hawaiian Islands
• In Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and
California, tsunami waves of up to 4.6 feet
were observed
Figure 6 : It took the waves 20-21 hours to
cross the entire Pacific and to reach the coast
of South America

8. Tectonic Setting
• The Kamchatka Peninsula lies on the Okhotsk block
• The region is tectonically complex, with three major
plates the North America, Eurasia and Pacific coming
together around two smaller structures, the Okhotsk and
Bering blocks in the Kamchatka area the Pacific, North
America and Eurasia plates are converging, and the
Bering block appears to be rotating
• The trench formed as a result of the subduction zone,
which formed in the late Cretaceous, that created the
Kuril island arc as well as the Kamchatka volcanic arc
• The Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath
the Okhotsk Plate along the trench, resulting in
intense volcanism
Figure 7 Earthquake hint at plate
beneath

9. 4 Stages of Subduction
Earthquake
Inter-seismic stage:
elastic plate locks
with subducted
plate
Co-seismic stage:
break contact with
rapid slip(tsunami)
Early post-seismic
stage: the two plate
lock again
Post-
seismic relaxation:
begin to lock and
repeats cycle
Figure 8 : Cross section
through subduction before and
during the earthquake
Figure 9 : Subduction

10. Convergence rate : 76 mm /yr in the
north and 83 mm /yr at the southern end
Figure 10 : Kuril Kamchatka trench
Figure 11 : Ring of fire

11. The most important geodynamic
process, which determines all the
tectonic and geomorphologic features
of the Kuril-Kamchatka region, is the
subduction of the Pacific plate under
the over thrusting Eurasian plate
Figure 12 : Black circle show the position of the
epicenter of 1952 earthquake as provided by different
seismological department

12. Effects of 9 Magnitude Earthquake
• The local tsunami, which generated waves as high as 50 feet, casued extensive
damage and left an estimated 10000 to 15000 people dead
• According to the authorities, out of a population of 6000 people in
hawaiian islands,2336 died
• The highest waves were observed on the north shore of Oahu Island; they were
nearly 15 feet in height
• Property damage caused by this tsunami in Hawaii was estimated at $800,000
• The waves beached boats, destroyed piers and houses, moved road pavement, etc
• It includes a great deal of damage to shorelines and infrastructure, including
destruction of a small bridge connecting to Coconut Island to the shore

14. How they responded?
• During those time technology wasn’t advance enough to detect early
warning
• An emergency preparedness group of Professional were able to
Warn indigenous people and have them return only if they knew it was safe
• A deadly earthquake and tsunami struck Kamchatka but the Soviet
government released very little information about the event
• In fact, until the 1990s, no one outside the Soviet government had studied
the seismic risks of Kamchatka and the Kurils; the region wasn't even
completely open to Soviet citizens

15. Today's situation
• Organization: Ministry of Emergency situation
• Formed In December 27,1990
• The Ministry is an agency of federal executive power with the following tasks:
1. developing proposals and initiatives in the sphere of State policy on issues
within the Ministry's competence
2. directing activities aimed at eliminating the consequences of large-scale
disasters, catastrophes and other emergencies
3. organizing the training of the population, and governing agencies and the
RSDM forces for disaster management and response and organizing
international cooperation in the fields of the Ministry's competency

16. References
• Historic Earthquakes & Earthquake Statistics at the United States
Geological Survey
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subduction
• "Ring of Fire", Plate Tectonics, Sea-Floor Spreading, Subduction Zones, "Hot
Spots" at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington
Web site
• http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1952.html
• https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=ed4b61fe128
b40fe9f764614d13a26d3
• http://itic.ioc-
unesco.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=1401&Ite
mid=1386

17. THANK YOU