Features of Manifestation of the Chilean Tsunami on April 1, 2014, and September 16, 2015, on Russia’s Pacific Coast

Abstract

As a result of mooring of autonomous seabed stations in bays of Shikotan Island, the records of two tsunamis were obtained from strong earthquakes that occurred off the coast of Chile on April 1, 2014, and September 16, 2015. In both cases, prolonged intense vibrations with a pronounced group structure were observed in various bays, mainly with periods of the main modes of resonance oscillations. The second event was more dangerous, and the wave height was 0.9 m at Malokurilskaya Bay. The increase in the energy of fluctuations in 2015 was more significant, manifesting itself in a wider range of periods. Numerical simulation of the tsunami showed that the nature of wave propagation in both earthquakes was identical in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, approaching Russia’s Pacific coast, and was characterized by weak damping, in contrast to waves propagating to the south and southwest. This explains why expect large waves can be expected on the coasts of the Kurils from earthquakes off the coast of South America, despite the considerable distance.