MOSCOW – The tsunami threat triggered by the recent earthquake in Kamchatka has now subsided. According to Petr Shebalin, director of the Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was spared from a powerful tsunami due to the natural protective barrier of Avacha Bay, which significantly attenuated the incoming wave.
Shebalin clarified that the earthquake`s epicenter was located not within Avacha Bay itself, but rather in the broader gulf region or even further offshore. This geographical positioning allowed the narrow entrance of the bay to effectively reduce the wave`s intensity. As a result, the tsunami`s impact was reportedly more severe in Severo-Kurilsk, where the Sakhalin Region government had previously declared a state of emergency following the seismic event and the subsequent tsunami.
Reports also indicated that sea lions were observed abandoning their rookeries in the Kuril Islands amidst rockfalls and turbulent waves caused by the seismic activity.
