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1959 Kamchatka earthquake

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
UTC time	1959-05-04 07:15:47
ISC event	881925
USGS-ANSS	ComCat
Local date	May 4, 1959 (1959-05-04)
Local time	19:15
Magnitude	8.25 Ms, 8.0–8.3 Mw
Depth	20–60 km (12–37 mi)
Epicenter	53°22′N 159°40′E / 53.37°N 159.66°E / 53.37; 159.66
Areas affected	USSR
Max. intensity	MSK-64 VIII (Damaging)
Casualties	1 killed, 13 injured

The 1959 Kamchatka earthquake occurred on May 4 at 19:15 local time with a moment magnitude of 8.0–8.3, and a surface wave magnitude of 8.25. The epicenter was near the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian SFSR, USSR. Building damage was reported in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The maximum intensity was VIII (Damaging) on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale. The intensity in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was about VIII MSK.

The earthquake triggered a tsunami with 0.2 meters (7.9 in) of runup that was recorded in Massacre Bay, Alaska, in the United States. Subduction is active along about the southern half of the eastern coast of Kamchatka Peninsula, between its junctions with the Aleutian Islands and the Kuril Islands.

Tectonic setting

Kamchatka lies near a large convergent boundary—the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench—which accommodates the subduction of the Pacific plate under the Okhotsk plate (a microplate within the North American plate). Subduction occurs at a rate of 80 mm (3.1 in)/yr at the trench, increasing from north to south. This subduction zone generates Kamchatka earthquakes and their associated tsunamis. This subduction zone is associated with many large events throughout history, including earthquakes in 1737, 1841, 1923, and 1952. The 1737 earthquake was likely the strongest event on the peninsula, with magnitudes reaching M_w  9.3 and tsunami run-ups reportedly exceeding 60 m (200 ft) The 1841 event is considered slightly weaker, with maximum magnitude estimates reaching M_w  9.0–9.2, and the tsunami run-up was 15 m (49 ft). The 1923 earthquake was also quite strong, measuring M_w  8.5. The 1952 event was the most recent of the great earthquakes (M_w  8.5+) along the Kuril-Kamchatka trench, and measured M_w  9.0. The resulting tsunami from this earthquake generated runups up to 18 m (59 ft) high.

Earthquake

The earthquake struck at 7:15 UTC, or 19:15 local time on May 4, 1959. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 20–60 km (12–37 mi), with a magnitude of 8.0–8.3. This event nucleated near where the 1952 earthquake ruptured with the most slip, and just south of the 1923 earthquake. The shock ruptured an area 160 km (99 mi) wide, and 110 km (68 mi) long. The maximum intensity on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale (MSK) was VIII (Damaging), and maximum felt intensities in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky were also MSK VIII.

Tsunami

The tsunami was small, which was expected for the size of the earthquake. Run-ups of 1.5–2 m (4 ft 11 in – 6 ft 7 in) were recorded, and at the Honolulu tide gauge, readings of 0.1 m (3.9 in) above the tide were also recorded. Readings of 0.2 m (7.9 in) run-ups in Hawaii were reported as well. In Massacre Bay, Alaska, run-ups of up to 0.2 m (7.9 in) were recorded.

See also

• List of earthquakes in 1959
• List of earthquakes in Russia

References

1. ^ Engdahl & Vallaseñor 2002.
2. ^ Office of Technical Services (1959), Information on Soviet Bloc International Geophysical Cooperation – 1959, United States Department of Commerce, p. 5, archived from the original on 2012-09-28, retrieved 2019-02-17
3. Putintsev 2005.
4. ^ Klyachko, M.; Gordeev, Y.; Kolosova, F. (2002), World Housing Encyclopedia Report (PDF), Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, p. 12
5. ^ The great Alaska earthquake of 1964, Vol. 5 by National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on the Alaska Earthquake
6. Park et al. 2002.
7. ^ Bürgmann et al. 2005.
8. Gusiakov 2000.
9. Rebecca Morelle (12 December 2013). "Enormous earthquakes 'are missing' from records". BBC News. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
10. ^ Bourgeois & Pinegina 2017.
11. ^ MacInnes et al. 2010.
12. Purcaru & Berckhemer 1982.
13. McCaffrey 1993.
14. Abe 1981.
15. Kanamori 1977.
16. Kelleher, Sykes & Oliver 1973.
17. Lay, Kanamori & Ruff 1982.
18. Walker 2005.

Sources

• Engdahl, E. R.; Vallaseñor, A. (2002). "Global seismicity: 1900–1999". International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology (PDF). Part A, Volume 81A (First ed.). Academic Press. p. 680. ISBN 978-0124406520.
• Park, J.; Levin, V.; Brandon, M.; Lees, J.; Peyton, V.; Gordeev, E.; Ozerov, A. (2002), "A dangling slab, amplified arc volcanism, mantle flow and seismic anisotropy in the Kamchatka plate corner" (PDF), Plate Boundary Zones (First ed.), American Geophysical Union, p. 3, ISBN 978-0875905327
• Putintsev, Y. O. (2005), "Harbingers of landslide in Ryabikovskaya Street, 81 (Petropavlovsk–Kamchatski)", Bulletin of Kamchatka Resional Association, 6 (2): 133
• Kanamori, Hiroo (10 July 1977). "The energy release in great earthquakes". Journal of Geophysical Research. 82 (20): 2981–2987. Bibcode:1977JGR....82.2981K. doi:10.1029/JB082i020p02981. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
• Bürgmann, Roland; Kogan, Mikhail G.; Steblov, Grigory M.; Hilley, George; Levin, Vasily E.; Apel, Edwin (19 July 2005). "Interseismic coupling and asperity distribution along the Kamchatka subduction zone". Journal of Geophysical Research. 110 (B7). Bibcode:2005JGRB..110.7405B. doi:10.1029/2005JB003648. S2CID 129123498.
• Gusiakov, V.K. (2000), Two great kamchatka tsunamis, 1737 and 1952 (PDF), Institute of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences: IUGG Tsunami Commission, archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2021, retrieved 25 September 2022
• Bourgeois, Joanne; Pinegina, Tatiana K. (2017). "The 1997 Kronotsky earthquake and tsunami and their predecessors, Kamchatka, Russia" (PDF). Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 18 (1): 335–350. Bibcode:2018NHESS..18..335B. doi:10.5194/nhess-18-335-2018.
• MacInnes, B. T.; Weiss, R.; Bourgeois, J.; Pinegina, T. K. (2010), "Slip Distribution of the 1952 Kamchatka Great Earthquake Based on Near-Field Tsunami Deposits and Historical Records" (PDF), Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 100 (4): 1695–1709, Bibcode:2010BuSSA.100.1695M, doi:10.1785/0120090376
• Walker, Daniel A. (January 2005). "Ocean-Wide Tsunamis, Magnitude Thresholds, And 1946 Type Events". Science of Tsunami Hazards. 23 (2): 3–6. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.537.5859.
• McCaffrey, Robert (10 July 1993). "On the role of the upper plate in great subduction zone earthquakes". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 98 (B7): 11953–11966. Bibcode:1993JGR....9811953M. doi:10.1029/93JB00445. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
• Purcaru, G.; Berckhemer, H. (10 April 1982). "Quantitative relations of seismic source parameters and a classification of earthquakes". Tectonophysics. 84 (1): 57–128. Bibcode:1982Tectp..84...57P. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(82)90154-8. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
• Lay, Thorne; Kanamori, Hiroo; Ruff, Larry J. (1982). "The Asperity Model and the Nature of Large Subduction Zone Earthquakes". Earthquake Prediction Research. 1 (1): 3–71. ISSN 0286-0619. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
• Abe, Katsuyuki (October 1981). "Magnitudes of large shallow earthquakes from 1904 to 1980". Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors. 27 (1): 72–92. Bibcode:1981PEPI...27...72A. doi:10.1016/0031-9201(81)90088-1. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
• Kelleher, John; Sykes, Lynn; Oliver, Jack (10 May 1973). "Possible criteria for predicting earthquake locations and their application to major plate boundaries of the Pacific and the Caribbean". Journal of Geophysical Research. 78 (14): 2547–2585. Bibcode:1973JGR....78.2547K. doi:10.1029/JB078i014p02547. Retrieved 9 October 2022.

External links

• The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.

• 1959 earthquakes
• May 1959 events in Asia
• Megathrust earthquakes in the Soviet Union
• 1959 in the Soviet Union
• Earthquakes in the Russian Far East
• 1950s tsunamis
• History of the Kamchatka Peninsula