Generation of Tsunamis in the Okhotsk Sea Caused by the 1994 Great Kuril Earthquake

Abstract

—The 1994 great Kuril earthquake generated an unusual tsunami that was observed at five tide gauges on the Hokkaido coast of the Okhotsk Sea. The tsunami arrived at tide gauges considerably earlier than the expected time, calculated on the assumption that the tsunami source area coincides with the aftershock area. Numerical simulation of the tsunami shows that the first wave of the tsunami in the Okhotsk Sea was generated by the significant subsidence north of the Kuril Islands. It is assumed that this subsidence is due to the earthquake. The coseismic deformation area of the ocean bottom extended over a vastly larger area than the aftershock area or the rupture area for the Kuril earthquake. The numerical simulation also shows that the tsunami observed at Utoro during the first hour after the origin time of the earthquake was mainly generated by the horizontal movement of the sloping ocean bottom near the Shiretoko Peninsula.