Russia's Far East holds seismic and volcanic hazards that could trigger tsunamis and pose a risk to the rest of the Pacific Basin, a U.S. researcher says. Studies in the last 20 years have revealed the dangerous side of the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands, sources of powerful earthquakes and volcanic activity long kept hidden from outsiders by Russia, Jody Bourgeois, a University of Washington professor of Earth and space sciences, says. A magnitude-9 earthquake in that region in 1952 caused significant damage elsewhere on the Pacific Rim, she said, and even less-powerful quakes have had effects throughout the Pacific Basin. "There's not a large population in the Russian Far East, but it's obviously important to the people who live there," she said in a university release. "Thousands of people were killed in tsunamis because of the earthquake in 1952. And tsunamis don't stay home." A tsunami caused by a smaller 2006 earthquake crossed the Pacific and did more than $10 million in damage at Crescent City, Calif. The historic record for earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in Kamchatka and the Kurils is relatively short, Bourgeois said, and because the region was closed off from much of the world for decades information has started becoming available only recently. Learning more about the region is important to many people over a broad area, she said. "Let's say you decide to build a nuclear power plant in Crescent City. You have to consider local events, but you also have to consider non-local events, worst-case scenarios, which includes tsunamis coming across the Pacific." Bourgeois talked about the seismic and volcanic threats in the Kamchatka-Kurils region Monday at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
GMT 15:17 2018 Friday ,19 January
Microwave ovens are cooking the environmentGMT 05:41 2017 Monday ,08 May
Ras Al Khaiman tracks turtles gathering on its shoresGMT 12:15 2017 Friday ,24 March
Coral reefs in hot water: studyGMT 10:55 2017 Thursday ,09 March
Activists' fury over Norway hunt of pregnant whalesGMT 12:16 2017 Wednesday ,01 March
Paris auction of Moroccan 'Nessie' makes wavesGMT 15:32 2017 Tuesday ,28 February
Gumtree bans donkey sales in S.Africa over skin tradeGMT 12:17 2017 Thursday ,16 February
Oceans have lost 2 percent of oxygen, says studyGMT 07:34 2017 Tuesday ,14 February
Dubai Municipality to shift 75 per cent of waste from landfillsMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor