SEA OF

OKHOTSK

Zaliv Akad emii

Sakha lins kiy

Z aliv

Ta

t

a

r s

k

i y

P

r

o

l i v

Zali v

Terpeniya

Zaliv Aniva

La Perouse Strait

K r u s e n s t e r n

T r o u g h

Tinro

Basin

K a s h e v a r o v B a n k

Te

r

p

e

n

i

y a

S p u r

K i tamiYamatu

Bank

Z e

n

k e

v

i c

h

R

i

s

e

N o r t h w e s t P a c i f i c B a s i n

o v

e

J a p a

n

R i s e

Musasi Bank

Detro

O. Medny

O. Bering

COMMAND E

ISLANDS

(Russia)

Paramushir

Onekotan

Urap

Iturup

Kunishir

Haboma Is

H o k k a

.

i d o

Ostrov

H o n s h u

K U R I L I S LAND S

KURI L I S LANDS

Kamchat k a

R

E

N

C

H

T atar Tr ough

A L E

K U R I L - K A M C H A T K A

T R

E

N

C

H

60

100

200

300

400

500

600

200

100

300

400

600

500

60

PACIFIC 

OCEAN

PACIFIC 

OCEAN

B

B'

C

C'

PetropavloskiKamchatskiy

Khabarovsk

Sapporo

Aomori

Sendai

A

A'

1915

1915

1916

1917

1918

1927

1931

1940

1952

1959

1960

1963

1964

1968

1968

1969

1971

1973

1978

1978

1978

1978

1983

1991

1993

1993

1994

1995

1997

2007

1901

1904 1904

1915 1913

1918

1978

1993

1900

1950

1923

1933

1952

1958

1963

1994

2003

2006

166° 168°

164°

164°

162°

162°

160°

160°

158°

158°

156°

156°

154°

154°

152°

152°

150°

150°

148°

148°

146°

146°

144°

144°

142°

142°

140°

132° 134° 136° 138° 140°

56°

54°

54°

52°

52°

50°

50°

48°

48°

46°

46°

44°

44°

42°

42°

40°

40°

38°

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

KILOMETERS

Scale

P A C I F I C

O C E A N

S E A O F O K H O T S K

N o r t h w e s t

K u r i l B a s i n

A L E U

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

JAPAN

CHINA

PACIFIC PLATE

OKHOTSK PLATE

AMUR PLATE

EURASIA PLATE

Kamchatka

Kuril Islands

Kuril Islands

Khabarovsk

Sapporo

75

83

88

85

155°

155° 165°

160°

160°

150°

150°

145°

145°

140°

130° 135° 140°

55°

55°

50°

50°

45°

45°

40°

40°

OPEN-FILE REPORT 2010–1083-C

Version 1.0

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Albers Equal Area Conic Projection

Digital map database and cartography by Susan Rhea and Arthur Tarr

Manuscript approved for publication July 28, 2010

1:5,000,000

Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007

Kuril-Kamchatka Arc and Vicinity

Compiled by Susan Rhea, Arthur C. Tarr, Gavin Hayes, Antonio Villaseñor1, 

Kevin P. Furlong2, and Harley Benz

1

Institute of Earth Sciences, CSIC, Lluis Solé i Sabarîs s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

2

Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802 USA

PROFILE A

 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

.

PROFILE X

TRENCH AXIS

 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600

 -800

 -700

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

DEPTH PROFILE EXPLANATION

Profiles of earthquake and volcano

locations are constructed from the

mapped data. Locations of the profile

intersection with the surface are drawn in

the map and labeled to coincide with the

profile label. Box defines extent of

earthquakes included in the profile.

Length of the profile graphic is the same

as in the map. Distance in kilometers

from the trench axis is indicated in the X

direction, depth in kilometers is indicated

in the Y direction. There is no vertical

exaggeration. See Explanation at side for

color key. Not all earth layers,

earthquake depths or magnitude, are

visible on every profile.

PROFILE A

 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

PROFILE A

 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

Any use of trade names is for descriptive

purposes only and does not imply endorsement

by the U.S. Government

Although this information product, for the most

part, is in the public domain, it also contains

copyrighted materials as noted in the text.

Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for

other than personal use must be secured from

the copyright owner.

This map was produced on request, directly

from digital files, on an electronic plotter

For sale by U.S. Geological Survey Information

Services, Box 25286, Federal Center, Denver,

CO 80225 1-888-ASK-USGS

A PDF for this map is available at

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/c/

Suggested citation:

Rhea, Susan, Tarr, A.C., Hayes, Gavin,

Villaseñor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., and

Benz, H.M., 2010, Seismicity of the earth

1900–2007, Kuril-Kamchatka arc and

vicinity: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File

Report 2010–1083-C, scale 1:5,000,000.

1899

1896

1893

1881

1853

1849 (2)

1858

1847

1841

1827

1790

1792

1791 (2)

1780

1742

1737

1737

PRE-INSTRUMENTAL

SEISMICITY 

1500–1899

 Tsunami generated

or M ≥7.5

PROFILE B

 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

 -700

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

PROFILE B

 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

 -700

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

PROFILE C

 -400 -300 -200 -100 0

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

SEISMIC HAZARD AND RELATIVE PLATE MOTION

Distance (km)

Depth (km)

TECTONIC SUMMARY

This map shows details of the Kuril-Kamchatka arc not visible in an earlier publication (Tarr and others, 2010). The arc

extends about 2,100 km from Hokkaido, Japan, along the Kuril Islands and the Pacific coast of the Kamchatka, Russia,

peninsula to its intersection with the Aleutian arc near the Commander Islands, Russia. It marks the region where the

Pacific plate subducts into the mantle beneath the Okhotsk microplate, a part of the larger North America plate. This

subduction is responsible for the generation of the Kuril Islands chain and the deep offshore Kuril-Kamchatka trench.

Relative to a fixed North America plate, the Pacific plate is moving northwest at a rate that decreases from 83 mm per

year at the arc's southern end to 75 mm per year near its northern edge.

Subduction zones such as the Kuril-Kamchatka arc are geologically complex and produce numerous earthquakes from

multiple sources. Deformation of the overriding North America plate generates shallow crustal earthquakes, whereas

slip at the interface of the plates generates interplate earthquakes that extend from near the base of the trench to depths

of 40 to 60 km. At greater depths, Kuril-Kamchatka arc earthquakes occur within the subducting Pacific plate and can

reach depths of nearly 700 km. Since 1900, eight great earthquakes have occurred; their location, size, and references

are in the table below.

Several relevant tectonic elements, plate boundaries and active volcanoes, provide a context for the seismicity presented

on the main map panel. The plate boundaries (Bird, 2003) are defined most accurately along the axis of the KurilKamchatka trench and are more diffuse or speculative in the western Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Island, Russia. The

active volcanic arc (Siebert and Simkin, 2002) follows the Kuril Islands chain and the eastern edge of the Kamchatka

Peninsula, parallel to the Kuril-Kamchatka trench .

DATA SOURCES

The earthquakes portrayed on the main map and the depth profiles are taken from two sources: (a) the Centennial

earthquake catalog (Engdahl and Villaseñor, 2002) and annual supplements for the interval 1900–2007, where the

magnitude floor is 5.5 globally, and (b) a catalog of earthquakes having high-quality depth determinations for the period

1964–2002 and a magnitude range of 5.0≤M≤5.4 (Engdahl, personal comm. 2003)

The nucleation points of great earthquakes (M≥8.3) are designated with a label showing the year of occurrence. Their

rupture areas are shown as pale yellow polygons. Major earthquakes (7.5≤M≤8.2) are labeled with the year of

occurrence. Slab contours are from Hayes and Wald (2010).

The Seismic Hazard and Relative Plate Motion panel displays the generalized seismic hazard of the region (Giardini and

others, 1999) and representative relative plate motion vectors using the NUVEL-1A model (DeMets, and others, 1994.)

Pre-instrumental seismicity for the Kuril-Kamchatka arc was obtained from the NOAA National Geophysical Data

Center (2010) database of significant earthquakes; locations are approximate, based on macro-seismic reports and field

investigations. We selected for earthquakes with associated reports of moderate to major damage, 10 or more deaths, an

estimated magnitude of 7.5 or greater, Modified Mercalli Intensity at least X, or tsunami generation.

Base map data sources include GEBCO 2008, Volcanoes of the World dataset (Siebert and Simkin, 2002), plate

boundaries (Bird, 2003), Digital Chart of the World, and ESRI (2002).

REFERENCES

Beck, S.L., and Ruff, L.J., 1987, Rupture process of the great 1963 Kuril Islands earthquake sequence—Asperity interaction

.

and multiple event rupture: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 92, no. B13, p. 14123–14138.

Bird, Peter, 2003, An updated digital model of plate boundaries: Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 4, no. 3, 52 p.

DeMets, C., Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F., and Stein, S., 1994, Effects of recent revisions to the geomagnetic time scale on estimates .

of current plate motions: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 21, p. 2191–2194.

Engdahl, E.R., and Villaseñor, Antonio, 2002, Global seismicity 1900–1999, in Lee, W.H.K., Jennings, P., Kisslinger, C., and .

Kanamori, H., eds, International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, v. 81(A), chap. 41, p. 1–26.

ESRI, 2002, ESRI Data and Maps: ESRI, Redlands, CA.

GEBCO, 2008, The GEBCO_08_Grid, ver. 20091120, accessed January 8, 2010 at http://www.gebco.net/.

Giardini, D., Grünthal, G., Shedlock, K., Zhang, P., and Global Seismic Hazards Program, 1999, Global Seismic Hazards Map,

.

accessed January 9, 2007 at http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/GSHAP.

Hayes, Gavin, and Wald, David, 2010, Slab models for subduction zones: U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, .

accessed February 23, 2010 at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/data/slab/.

Johnson, J.M., and Satake, Kenji, 1999, Asperity distribution of the 1952 great Kamchatka earthquake and its relation to future .

earthquake potential in Kamchatka: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 154, no. 34, p. 541–553.

Kawakatsu, Hitoshi, and Seno, Tetsuzo, 1983, Triple seismic zone and the regional variation of seismicity along the northern

.

Honshu arc: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 88, no. B5, p. 4215–4230.

Kikuchi, Matsayuki, and Kanamori, Hiroo, 1995, The Shikotan earthquake of October 4, 1994—Lithospheric earthquake:

.

Geophysical Research Letters, v. 22, no. 9, p. 1025–1028.

Miyazaki, Shin’ichi, Segall, Paul, Fukuda, Jun’ichi, and Kato, Teruyuki, 2004, Space time distribution of afterslip following

.

the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake— Implications for variations in fault zone frictional properties: Geophysical Research .

Letters, v. 31, no. L06623, p. 1–4.

NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, 2010: U.S. Dept of Commerce, accessed March 31, 2010 at

.

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazards.

Siebert, L., and Simkin, T., 2002, Volcanoes of the world—An illustrated catalog of Holocene volcanoes and their eruptions:

.

Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information series, GVP-3, accessed January 9, 2007 at .

http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/.

Tarr, A.C., Villaseñor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., Rhea, Susan, and Benz, H.M., 2010, Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007: U.S.

.

Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3064, scale 1:25,000,000.

X X'

A A'

C C'

B B'

Magnitude of nucleation points of great earthquakes

Year/Mo/Dy Place Mag Mag Source

1923/02/03 Kamchatka, Russia 8.4 Johnson and Satake (1999)

1933/03/02 Sanriku-oki, Japan 8.6 Kawakatsu and Seno (1983)

1952/11/04 Kamchatka, Russia 9 Johnson and Satake (1999)

1958/11/06 Kuril Islands, Russia 8.4 Tarr and others (2010)

1963/10/13 Kuril Islands, Russia 8.5 Beck and Ruff (1987)

1994/10/04 Kuril Islands, Russia 8.3 Kikuchi and Kanamori (1995)

2003/09/25 Hokkaido, Japan 8.3 Miyazaki and others (2004)

2006/11/15 Kuril Islands, Russia 8.3 Tarr and others (2010)

FIGURE EXPLANATION

Peak ground acceleration

0–0.2 m/s2

0.2–0.4

0.4–0.8

0.8–1.6

1.6–3.2

3.2–6.4

6.4–9.8

Relative plate motion

11.0–19.9

20.0–39.9

40.0–59.9

60.0–79.9

80.0–100.0

Plate boundaries

Subduction

Transform

Divergent

Others

MAP EXPLANATION

Magnitude classes

4–5.9

6–6.4

6.5–6.9

7–7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

8.0

8.1

8.2

Depth of focus

0–69 km

70–299 km

300–700 km

Nucleation points

Rupture zones

Active volcanoes

Mean slab depth

60 km

100

200

300

400

500

600

Plate boundaries

Subduction

Transform

Divergent

Others

Magnitude classes

4–5.9

6–6.4

6.5–6.9

7–7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

8.0

8.1

8.2

Depth of focus

0–69 km

70–299 km

300–700 km

Nucleation points

Earth structure

Air

Crust

Upper mantle

Transition zone

Lower mantle

Active volcanoes