The 1841 Kamchatka earthquake occurred in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

on May 17 at 08:00 local time. The earthquake had an epicenter off the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...

. With an estimated

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

of 9.0 or higher, it is one of the largest to strike the region. A large tsunami accompanied the quake, with up to 15 meters in run-up along the coast.

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 The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and Okhotsk Sea plates converge. Being older and therefore denser, the Pacific

subducts Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

beneath the Kamchatka Peninsula, which sits on the Okhotsk Sea Plate. These two plates meet along a

convergent boundary A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more Plate tectonics, lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can ...

, marked by the

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from eros ...

. The

subduction zone Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

is seismogenic and produces

Kamchatka earthquakes Many major earthquakes have occurred in the region of the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. Events in 1737, 1923 and 1952, were megathrust earthquakes and caused tsunamis. There are many more earthquakes and tsunamis originating from the ...

, which occasionally generate tsunamis; some of these

megathrust Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthqu ...

earthquakes are very strong (such as the 1952 magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the 5th largest ever recorded). Possibly the largest to have hit the peninsula was the 1737 magnitude 9.3 earthquake which generated a large tsunami as well.

Earthquake

The earthquake was associated with

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

ing on the

near the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. According to the

National Centers for Environmental Information The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), an agency of the United States government, manages one of the world's largest archives of atmospheric, coastal, geophysical, and oceanic data, containing information that ranges from th ...

, the earthquake felt area was used to estimate its magnitude at 8.4. A 2004 earthquake catalog placed both the tsunami magnitude () and moment magnitude () at 9.0, based on evaluating the available tsunami data. No information exists on the source area of the event due to the lack of tsunami records and observation. The 1841 event is thought to be one of a number of large M 8.5+ earthquakes "missing" in the seismological record due to having their magnitudes underestimated. According to Dr.

Susan Hough Susan Elizabeth Hough (born March 20, 1961) is a seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California, and scientist in charge of the office. She has served as an editor and contributor for many journals and is a contributin ...

of the

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

, the earthquake magnitude was underestimated due to the assumption that it did not generate a large-enough tsunami. Earthquakes measuring 8.5 or greater are generally assumed to cause large tsunamis. At the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

fall meeting in 2013, she believes the magnitude could be up to 9.2.

Impact

The earthquake struck the coast and was felt with a maximum intensity of VIII–IX at

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ( rus, Петропавловск-Камчатский, a=Петропавловск-Камчатский.ogg, p=pʲɪtrɐˈpavləfsk kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administr ...

. Up to 15 minutes of violent shaking was felt in the city. At least 50 stove chimneys on homes and government offices collapsed. Some homes suffered severe damage.

Cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s at the coast collapsed. Cathedral bells reportedly rang during the earthquake. The event caused a large

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

with a maximum run-up height of 15 meters at the eastern coast. The tsunami washed away

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia. ...

s belonging to the native population. At

Hilo Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Hawaii (island), Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 United ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, the tsunami measured 4.6 meters. It is Hawaii's first historically recorded tsunami sourced from the Kamchatka Peninsula.

References

{{Earthquakes in Russia Earthquakes in the Russian Far East History of the Kamchatka Peninsula Megathrust earthquakes in Russia Tsunamis in Russia Tsunamis in the United States 1841 disasters in Asia 1841 in the environment 1841 in the Russian Empire 1841 in Asia 1841 disasters in the Russian Empire

Tectonic setting

Earthquake

Impact

See also

References