Tsunami on Paramushira in 1952. A monstrous echo of the ocean depths. Kuril tsunami. How unsteady the earth suddenly became

In Severo-Kurilsk, the expression “living like on a volcano” can be used without quotation marks. There are 23 volcanoes on the island of Paramushir, five of them are active. Ebeko, located seven kilometers from the city, comes to life from time to time and releases volcanic gases.

When it is calm and with a westerly wind, they reach Severo-Kurilsk - it is impossible not to smell the smell of hydrogen sulfide and chlorine. Usually in such cases, the Sakhalin Hydrometeorological Center issues a storm warning about air pollution: it is easy to get poisoned by toxic gases. Eruptions at Paramushir in 1859 and 1934 caused mass poisoning of people and the death of domestic animals. Therefore, in such cases, volcanologists urge city residents to use breathing masks and water purification filters.

The site for the construction of Severo-Kurilsk was chosen without conducting a volcanological examination. Then, in the 1950s, the main thing was to build a city no lower than 30 meters above sea level. After the tragedy of 1952, water seemed worse than fire.

In the autumn of 1952, the country lived ordinary life. The Soviet press, Pravda and Izvestia, did not get a single line: neither about the tsunami in the Kuril Islands, nor about thousands dead people. The picture of what happened can be reconstructed only from the memories of eyewitnesses and rare photographs.

The tsunami wave after the earthquake in Japan reached Kuril Islands. Low, one and a half meters. And in the fall of 1952 East Coast Kamchatka, the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu found themselves on the first line of disaster. North Kuril tsunami 1952 was one of the five largest in the history of the twentieth century.

The city of Severo-Kurilsk was destroyed. The Kuril and Kamchatka villages of Utesny, Levashovo, Reefovy, Kamenisty, Pribrezhny, Galkino, Okeansky, Podgorny, Major Van, Shelekhovo, Savushkino, Kozyrevsky, Babushkino, Baykovo were swept away...

The writer Arkady Strugatsky, who served as a military translator in the Kuril Islands in those years, took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the tsunami. From a letter to his brother in Leningrad:

“...I was on the island of Syumushu (or Shumshu - look for it at the southern tip of Kamchatka). What I saw, did and experienced there - I can’t write yet. I will only say that I visited the area where the disaster that I wrote to you about made itself felt especially strongly.

The black island of Syumushu, the island of the wind Syumushu, the ocean hits the rock walls of Syumushu.

Anyone who was on Syumusyu, was on Syumusyu that night, remembers how the ocean attacked Syumusyu;

How the ocean crashed with a roar onto the piers of Syumushu, and onto the pillboxes of Syumushu, and onto the roofs of Syumushu;

As in the hollows of Syumushu, and in the trenches of Syumushu, the ocean raged in the bare hills of Syumushu.

And the next morning, Syumusyu, there were many corpses to the walls-rocks of Syumusyu, Syumusyu, carried out by the Pacific Ocean.

Black island of Syumushu, island of fear Syumushu. Anyone who lives on Syumushu looks at the ocean.

I wove these verses under the impression of what I saw and heard. I don’t know how from a literary point of view, but from the point of view of facts, everything is correct...”

In those years, work on registering residents in Severo-Kurilsk was not really organized. Seasonal workers, classified military units, the composition of which was not disclosed. According to the official report, in 1952 about six thousand people lived in Severo-Kurilsk.

In 1951, 82-year-old South Sakhalin resident Konstantin Ponedelnikov went with his comrades to the Kuril Islands to earn extra money. They built houses, plastered walls, and helped install reinforced concrete salting vats at a fish processing plant. In those years Far East there were a lot of newcomers: they arrived for recruitment and worked out the period established by the contract.

It all happened on the night of November 4-5. I was still single, well, I was young, I came from the street late, already at two or three o’clock. Then he lived in an apartment, rented a room from a fellow countryman of the family, also from Kuibyshev. Just lay down - what is it? The house shook. The owner shouts: get up quickly, get dressed and go outside. He had lived there for several years, he knew what was what,” says Konstantin Ponedelnikov.

Konstantin ran out of the house and lit a cigarette. The ground shook noticeably underfoot. And suddenly, shooting, screams, and noise were heard from the shore. In the light of the ship's searchlights, people were running from the bay. "War!" - they shouted. At least that's what it seemed to the guy at first. Later I realized: a wave! Water!!! Self-propelled guns were coming from the sea towards the hills where the border unit was located. And together with everyone else, Konstantin ran after him, upstairs.

From the report of senior lieutenant of state security P. Deryabin:

“...We didn’t have time to reach the regional department when we heard a loud noise, then a crash from the direction of the sea. Looking back we saw high altitude a wave of water advancing from the sea onto the island... I gave the order to open fire from personal weapons and shout: “Water is coming!”, simultaneously retreating to the hills. Hearing the noise and screams, people began to run out of the apartments in what they were wearing (most of them in underwear, barefoot) and run into the hills.”

“Our path to the hills lay through a ditch about three meters wide, where wooden walkways were laid for crossing. A woman with a five-year-old boy was running next to me, gasping for breath. I grabbed the child in my arms and jumped over the ditch with him, from where the strength only came from. And the mother had already climbed over the boards,” said Konstantin Ponedelnikov.

On the hill there were army dugouts where training took place. It was there that people settled down to warm up - it was November. These dugouts became their refuge for the next few days.

Three waves

After the first wave left, many went down to find missing relatives and release livestock from the barns. People didn’t know: a tsunami has a long wavelength, and sometimes tens of minutes pass between the first and second.

From the report of P. Deryabin:

“...Approximately 15–20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a wave of water of even greater force and magnitude than the first gushed out again. People, thinking that everything was already over (many, grief-stricken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property), came down from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses to warm themselves and clothe themselves. The water, encountering no resistance on its way... poured onto the land, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings. This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population.”

And almost immediately the third wave carried into the sea almost everything that it could take with it. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was filled with floating houses, roofs and debris.

The tsunami, which was later named after the destroyed city - "tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk" - was caused by an earthquake in Pacific Ocean, 130 km from the coast of Kamchatka. An hour after the powerful (magnitude about 9.0) earthquake, the first tsunami wave reached Severo-Kurilsk. The height of the second, most terrible, wave reached 18 meters. According to official data, 2,336 people died in Severo-Kurilsk alone.

Konstantin Ponedelnikov did not see the waves themselves. First he delivered refugees to the hill, then with several volunteers they went down and spent long hours rescuing people, pulling them out of the water, removing them from roofs. The real scale of the tragedy became clear later.

– I went down to the city... We had a watchmaker there, a good guy, legless. I look: his stroller. And he himself lies next to him, dead. The soldiers put the corpses on a chaise and take them to the hills, where they either end up in a mass grave, or how they buried them - God knows. And along the shore there were barracks and a military sapper unit. One foreman survived; he was at home, but the entire company died. A wave covered them. There was a bullpen, and there were probably people there. Maternity hospital, hospital... Everyone died, recalls Konstantin.

From a letter from Arkady Strugatsky to his brother:

“The buildings were destroyed, the entire shore was littered with logs, pieces of plywood, pieces of fences, gates and doors. There were two old naval artillery towers on the pier; they were installed by the Japanese almost at the end of the Russo-Japanese War. The tsunami threw them about a hundred meters away. When dawn broke, those who managed to escape came down from the mountains - men and women in underwear, shivering from cold and horror. Most of the inhabitants either drowned or lay on the shore mixed with logs and debris.”

The evacuation of the population was carried out promptly. After a short call from Stalin to the Sakhalin Regional Committee, all nearby aircraft and watercraft were sent to the disaster area. Konstantin, among about three hundred victims, found himself on the Amderma steamship, completely filled with fish. Half of the coal hold was unloaded for the people and a tarpaulin was thrown in.

Through Korsakov they were brought to Primorye, where they lived for some time in very difficult conditions. But then “at the top” they decided that recruitment contracts needed to be worked out, and sent everyone back to Sakhalin. There was no talk of any material compensation; it would be good if they could at least confirm their length of service. Konstantin was lucky: his work boss remained alive and restored his work books and passports...

Many destroyed villages were never rebuilt. The population of the islands has decreased greatly. The port city of Severo-Kurilsk was rebuilt in a new location, higher up. Without carrying out that same volcanological examination, so as a result the city found itself in even more dangerous place- on the path of the mud flows of the Ebeko volcano, one of the most active in the Kuril Islands.

In Severo-Kurilsk, the expression “living like on a volcano” can be used without quotation marks. There are 23 volcanoes on the island of Paramushir, five of them are active. Ebeko, located seven kilometers from the city, comes to life from time to time and releases volcanic gases.

In calm conditions and with a westerly wind they reach - the smell of hydrogen sulfide and chlorine is impossible not to smell. Usually in such cases, the Sakhalin Hydrometeorological Center issues a storm warning about air pollution: it is easy to get poisoned by toxic gases. Eruptions at Paramushir in 1859 and 1934 caused mass poisoning of people and the death of domestic animals. Therefore, in such cases, volcanologists urge city residents to use breathing masks and water purification filters.

The site for the construction of Severo-Kurilsk was chosen without conducting a volcanological examination. Then, in the 1950s, the main thing was to build a city no lower than 30 meters above sea level. After the tragedy of 1952, water seemed worse than fire.

A few hours later the tsunami wave reached Hawaiian Islands 3000 km from the Kuril Islands.
Flood on Midway Island(Hawaii, USA), caused by the North Kuril tsunami.

Secret tsunami

The tsunami wave after the earthquake in Japan this spring reached the Kuril Islands. Low, one and a half meters. But in the fall of 1952, the eastern coast of Kamchatka, the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu found themselves on the first line of disaster. The North Kuril tsunami of 1952 was one of the five largest in the history of the 20th century.

The city of Severo-Kurilsk was destroyed. The Kuril and Kamchatka villages of Utesny, Levashovo, Reefovy, Kamenisty, Pribrezhny, Galkino, Okeansky, Podgorny, Major Van, Shelekhovo, Savushkino, Kozyrevsky, Babushkino, Baykovo were swept away...

In the fall of 1952, the country lived a normal life. The Soviet press, Pravda and Izvestia, did not get a single line: neither about the tsunami in the Kuril Islands, nor about the thousands of people who died.

The picture of what happened can be reconstructed from the memories of eyewitnesses and rare photographs.

Writer Arkady Strugatsky, who served as a military translator in the Kuril Islands in those years, took part in eliminating the consequences of the tsunami. I wrote to my brother in Leningrad:

“...I was on the island of Syumushu (or Shumshu - look for it at the southern tip of Kamchatka). What I saw, did and experienced there - I can’t write yet. I will only say that I visited the area where the disaster that I wrote to you about made itself felt especially strongly.

The black island of Syumushu, the island of the wind Syumushu, the ocean hits the rock walls of Syumushu. Anyone who was on Syumusyu, was on Syumusyu that night, remembers how the ocean attacked Syumusyu; How the ocean crashed with a roar onto the piers of Syumushu, and onto the pillboxes of Syumushu, and onto the roofs of Syumushu; As in the hollows of Syumushu, and in the trenches of Syumushu, the ocean raged in the bare hills of Syumushu. And the next morning, Syumusyu, there were many corpses to the walls-rocks of Syumusyu, Syumusyu, carried out by the Pacific Ocean. Black island of Syumushu, island of fear Syumushu. Anyone who lives on Syumushu looks at the ocean.

I wove these verses under the impression of what I saw and heard. I don’t know how from a literary point of view, but from the point of view of facts, everything is correct...”

War!

In those years, work on registering residents in Severo-Kurilsk was not really organized. Seasonal workers, classified military units, the composition of which was not disclosed. According to the official report, in 1952, about 6,000 people lived in Severo-Kurilsk.

82-year-old South Sakhalin resident Konstantin Ponedelnikov in 1951 he and his comrades went to the Kuril Islands to earn extra money. They built houses, plastered walls, helped install reinforced concrete salting vats at a fish processing plant. In those years, there were many visitors to the Far East: they arrived for recruitment and worked out the term established by the agreement.

Tells Konstantin Ponedelnikov:
– It all happened on the night of November 4-5. I was still single, well, I was young, I came from the street late, already at two or three o’clock. Then he lived in an apartment, rented a room from a fellow countryman of the family, also from Kuibyshev. Just lay down - what is it? The house shook. The owner shouts: get up quickly, get dressed and go outside. He had lived there for several years now and knew what was what.

Konstantin ran out of the house and lit a cigarette. The ground shook noticeably underfoot. And suddenly, shooting, screams, and noise were heard from the shore.

From the report of senior lieutenant of state security P. Deryabin:
In the light of the ship's searchlights, people were running from the bay. "War!" - they shouted. At least that's what it seemed to the guy at first. Later I realized: a wave! Water!!! Self-propelled guns were coming from the sea towards the hills where the border unit was located. And together with everyone else, Konstantin ran after him, upstairs.

“...We didn’t have time to reach the regional department when we heard a loud noise, then a crash from the direction of the sea. Looking back, we saw a great height of water advancing from the sea onto the island... I gave the order to open fire from personal weapons and shout: “Water is coming!”, simultaneously retreating to the hills. Hearing the noise and screams, people began to run out of the apartments in what they were wearing (most of them in underwear, barefoot) and run into the hills.”
“Our path to the hills lay through a ditch about three meters wide, where wooden walkways were laid for crossing. A woman with a five-year-old boy was running next to me, gasping for breath. I grabbed the child in my arms and jumped over the ditch with him, from where the strength only came from. And the mother had already climbed over the planks.

On the hill there were army dugouts where training took place. It was there that people settled down to warm up - it was November. These dugouts became their refuge for the next few days.

In the place of the former North-Kurilsk. June 1953 of the year

Three waves

After the first wave left, many went down to find missing relatives and release livestock from the barns. People didn’t know: a tsunami has a long wavelength, and sometimes tens of minutes pass between the first and second.

From the report of P. Deryabin:
“...Approximately 15–20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a wave of water poured out again, even more powerful and larger than the first. People, thinking that everything was already over (many, grief-stricken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property), came down from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses to warm themselves and clothe themselves. The water, encountering no resistance on its way... poured onto the land, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings. This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population.”

And almost immediately the third wave carried almost everything it could take with it into the sea. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was filled with floating houses, roofs and debris.

The tsunami, which was later named after the destroyed city - the “tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk” - was caused by an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, 130 km from the coast of Kamchatka. An hour after the powerful (magnitude about 9.0) earthquake, the first tsunami wave reached Severo-Kurilsk. The height of the second, most terrible, wave reached 18 meters. According to official data, 2,336 people died in Severo-Kurilsk alone.

Konstantin Ponedelnikov did not see the waves themselves. First he delivered refugees to the hill, then with several volunteers they went down and spent long hours rescuing people, pulling them out of the water, removing them from roofs. The real scale of the tragedy became clear later.

– I went down to the city... We had a watchmaker there, a good guy, legless. I look: his stroller. And he himself lies next to him, dead. The soldiers put the corpses on a chaise and take them to the hills, where they either end up in a mass grave, or how they buried them - God knows. And along the shore there were barracks and a military sapper unit. One foreman survived; he was at home, but the entire company died. A wave covered them. There was a bullpen, and there were probably people there. Maternity hospital, hospital... Everyone died.

From a letter from Arkady Strugatsky to his brother:

“The buildings were destroyed, the entire shore was littered with logs, pieces of plywood, pieces of fences, gates and doors. There were two old naval artillery towers on the pier; they were installed by the Japanese almost at the end of the Russo-Japanese War. The tsunami threw them about a hundred meters away. When dawn broke, those who managed to escape came down from the mountains - men and women in underwear, shivering from cold and horror. Most of the inhabitants either drowned or lay on the shore mixed with logs and debris.”

The evacuation of the population was carried out promptly. After a short call from Stalin to the Sakhalin Regional Committee, all nearby aircraft and watercraft were sent to the disaster area.

Konstantin, among about three hundred victims, found himself on the Amderma steamship, completely filled with fish. Half of the coal hold was unloaded for the people and a tarpaulin was thrown in.

Through Korsakov they were brought to Primorye, where they lived for some time in very difficult conditions. But then “at the top” they decided that recruitment contracts needed to be worked out, and sent everyone back to Sakhalin. There was no talk of any material compensation; it would be good if they could at least confirm their length of service. Konstantin was lucky: his work boss remained alive and restored his work books and passports...

Fishing place

Many destroyed villages were never rebuilt. The population of the islands has decreased greatly. The port city of Severo-Kurilsk was rebuilt in a new location, higher up. Without carrying out that very volcanological examination, so as a result the city found itself in an even more dangerous place - on the path of mud flows of the Ebeko volcano, one of the most active in the Kuril Islands.

Life in the port city of Severo-Kurilsk has always been connected with fish. The work was profitable, people came, lived, left - there was some kind of movement. In the 1970-80s, only slackers at sea did not earn one and a half thousand rubles a month (an order of magnitude more than at similar work on the mainland). In the 1990s, the crab was caught and taken to Japan. But in the late 2000s, Rosrybolovstvo had to almost completely ban Kamchatka crab fishing. So that it doesn't disappear completely.

Today, compared to the late 1950s, the population has decreased by three times. Today, about 2,500 people live in Severo-Kurilsk - or, as the locals say, in Sevkur. Of these, 500 are under 18 years of age. In the maternity ward of the hospital, 30-40 citizens of the country are born annually, with “Severo-Kurilsk” in the “place of birth” column.

The fish processing factory provides the country with reserves of navaga, flounder and pollock. Approximately half of the employees are local. The rest are newcomers (“verbota”, recruited). They earn approximately 25 thousand a month.

It is not customary here to sell fish to fellow countrymen. There’s a whole sea of ​​it, and if you want cod or, say, halibut, you need to come in the evening to the port where fishing ships unload and simply ask: “Hey, brother, wrap up the fish.”

Tourists in Paramushir are still only a dream. Visitors are accommodated in the “Fisherman's House” - a place that is only partially heated. True, the thermal power plant in Sevkur was recently modernized, and a new pier was built in the port.

One problem is the inaccessibility of Paramushir. There are more than a thousand kilometers to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and three hundred to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The helicopter flies once a week, and then only on the condition that the weather is good in Petrik, Severo-Kurilsk, and Cape Lopatka, which ends Kamchatka. It's good if you wait a couple of days. Or maybe three weeks...

November 5, 1952 An earthquake occurred 130 km from the Shipunsky Peninsula of Kamchatka. The source of the earthquake was at a depth of 20-30 km. The destruction from the earthquake covered 700 km of coastline: from the Kronotsky Peninsula to the northern Kuril Islands. The damage was minor - pipes collapsed, light buildings were damaged, walls of buildings and permanent structures were cracked.
Much greater destruction and disaster was caused by the tsunami resulting from this earthquake. The height of water rise on average reached 6-7 m.
Destructive tsunami eastern shores Kamchatka and the northern Kuril Islands approached 15-45 minutes after the earthquake and began with a drop in sea level.
The city of Severo-Kurilsk, located on the island, suffered the most from the waves. Paramushir.
The urban area occupied a coastal beach 1-5 m high, followed by a slope of a coastal terrace 10 m high. Many buildings were located on it. Some of the buildings were located southwest of the port along the river valley.

Below are eyewitness accounts and excerpts from documents that fairly fully describe the dramatic events of 1952.

1. From a special report from the head of the North Kuril police department about the natural disaster - the tsunami that occurred in the North Kuril region on November 5, 1952.

At 4 o'clock in the morning on November 5, 1952, a strong earthquake began in the city of Severo-Kurilsk and the region, lasting about 30 minutes, which damaged buildings and destroyed stoves in houses.
Minor hesitations still continued when I went to the district police department to check the damage to the district department building and especially the pre-trial detention cell, in which 22 people were kept on November 5...
On the way to the regional department, I observed cracks in the ground ranging from 5 to 20 cm wide, formed as a result of the earthquake. Arriving at the regional department, I saw that the building had been broken into two halves due to the earthquake, the stoves had crumbled, the duty squad... were in place...
At this time there were no longer any shocks, the weather was very calm... Before we had time to reach the regional department, we heard a loud noise, then a crash from the direction of the sea. Looking around, we saw a large water shaft advancing from the sea onto the island. Since the regional department was located at a distance of 150 m from the sea, and the bullpen about 50 m from the sea, the bullpen immediately became the first victim of the water... I gave the order to open fire from personal weapons and shout: “Water is coming!”, while simultaneously retreating to the hills. Hearing the noise and screams, people began to run out of the apartments in what they were wearing (most of them in underwear, barefoot) and run to the hills.
After about 10-15 minutes, the first wave of water began to recede, and some people went to their houses to collect their surviving belongings.
I and a group of my workers went to the regional department to clarify the situation and rescue the survivor. Approaching the place, we found nothing, there was only a clean place left...
At this time, that is, approximately 15-20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a wave of water gushed out again, even greater in strength and magnitude than the first. People, thinking that everything was already over (many, grief-stricken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property), came down from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses to warm themselves and clothe themselves.
The water, encountering no resistance on its way (the first shaft swept away a significant part of the buildings), rushed onto the land with exceptional speed and force, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings. This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population.
Before the water of the second wave had time to recede, the water rushed in for the third time and carried almost everything that was located from the buildings in the city into the sea.
For 20 - 30 minutes (the time of two almost simultaneous waves of enormous force) the city was filled with a terrible noise of seething water and breaking buildings.

Houses and roofs of houses were thrown like matchboxes and carried out to sea. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was completely filled with floating houses, roofs and other debris.
The surviving people, frightened by what was happening, panicked, throwing away the things they had taken and losing their children, and rushed to run higher into the mountains.
It was around 6 a.m. on November 5, 1952.
After this, the water began to recede and cleared the island. But minor tremors began again and most of the surviving people remained in the hills, afraid to go down.
On November 6, a commission was organized at the party economic asset to evacuate the population, supply them with food and clothing... An order was given to the squad commander Matveenko to immediately gather rank and file... However, most of the personnel left the gathering place without permission and by the evening of November 6 boarded the ship "Uelen"...
The natural disaster completely destroyed the building of the regional police department, the bullpen, and the stable... The total loss is 222.4 thousand rubles.
All the documentation of the regional department, seals, stamps... were washed away into the sea... Taking advantage of the natural disaster, the garrison soldiers, having drunk on the alcohol, cognac and champagne scattered around the city, began looting...
In the Okeansky fish processing plant on November 5, 1952, after destruction, a safe was found containing 280 thousand rubles belonging to the plant... The crew members of the Oceansky Plant... broke into the safe and stole 274 thousand rubles...
At the Babushkino and Kozyrevskoye fish processing plants, at the time of the natural disaster, military personnel stole a large amount of inventory belonging to the fishing factories.
Based on the stated facts, the military personnel informed the command to take action.

Senior Lieutenant of State Security P.M. Deryabin

2. Certificate from the deputy chief of the Sakhalin regional police department on the results of the trip to the disaster area

On November 6, 1952, by order of the head of the Sakhalin regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Security Colonel Comrade Smirnov, together with members of the commission of the regional committee of the CPSU, flew to the North Kuril region.
During his stay in the North Kuril region from November 8 to December 6, 1952, from conversations with the affected population, party, Soviet and scientific workers, as well as as a result of personal observations and study of places subject to flooding and destruction, I established that on November 5, 1952 year at 3 hours 55 minutes on the islands Kuril ridge, including Paramushir, Shumshu, Alaid and Onekotan, an earthquake of great destructive force occurred. The cause of the earthquake, as scientists explain, was the constant pressure of the continent's crust to the east. Due to the fact that the bottom of the Seas of Japan and Okhotsk consists of hard basalt rock that can withstand this titanic stress, the failure occurred in the weakest place (according to the structure of the seabed) in the Pacific Ocean, in the so-called Tuskoror depression. At a depth of 7-8 thousand m, approximately 200 km east of the island of Paramushir, at the moment of gigantic compression of the depression, a sharp rise of the ocean floor (fault) occurred, possibly followed by a volcanic eruption, displacing a huge mass of water, which in the form of a rampart reached the islands of the Kuril ridge.
As a result of the earthquake, the city of Severo-Kurilsk, the villages of Okeanskoye, Utesnoye, Levashovo, Kamenisty, Galkino, Podgorny and others were destroyed and swept away by the wave. The earthquake continued with varying strengths several times a day throughout November, December and after. At one o'clock in the morning on November 16, the Yuzhny volcano began to erupt. At first, strong explosions with flashes occurred, and then lava and ash poured out of the crater of the volcano, carried by the wind 30 - 50 km and covering the ground 7 - 8 cm.
Judging by the explanations of eyewitnesses, the earthquake began like this: on November 5, 1952, at 3:55 a.m., residents of the city of Severo-Kurilsk were awakened by strong tremors, accompanied by numerous underground explosions, reminiscent of distant artillery cannonade. As a result of the vibrations of the earth's crust, buildings were deformed, plaster fell from the ceiling and walls, stoves were destroyed, cabinets and whatnots swayed, dishes broke, and more stable objects - tables, beds - moved along the floor from wall to wall, just like loose objects on a ship during a storm.
The tremors, either increasing or decreasing in strength, continued for 30 - 35 minutes. Then there was silence. Residents of Severo-Kurilsk, accustomed to the previously occurring periodic ground vibrations, in the first minutes of the earthquake on November 5 believed that it would quickly stop, so they ran out into the street half-naked to escape falling objects and destruction. The weather that night was warm, only in some places the first snow that had fallen the day before remained. It was an unusually moonlit night.
As soon as the earthquake stopped, the population returned to their apartments to continue sleeping, and individual citizens, in order to prepare for the holiday, immediately began repairing apartments destroyed by the earthquake, unaware of the impending danger.
At about 5 o'clock in the morning, people who were on the street, from the direction of the sea, heard an unusually menacing and ever-increasing noise and, at the same time, gun shots in the city. As it turned out later, the shots were fired by workers and military personnel, who were among the first to notice the movement of the wave. They turned their attention to the strait. At that time, in the strait between the islands of Shumshu and Paramushir, against the backdrop of the moonlight from the ocean, a huge water shaft was noticed. It suddenly appeared quite clearly, bordered by a wide strip of foam, rapidly approaching the city of Severo-Kurilsk. It seemed to people that the island was sinking. This was the impression, by the way, among the population of other villages that were flooded. The hope of salvation was determined in only a few tens of seconds. City residents
Those on the street raised a cry: “Save yourself! The water is coming!” Most of the people in underwear, barefoot, grabbed children and rushed to the hill. Meanwhile, the water shaft has already collapsed on coastal buildings. The city was filled with the crash of destroyed buildings, heartbreaking screams and screams of people drowning and being chased by the water wall running towards the hill.
The force of the water shaft in its rapid movement was so enormous that small in size but heavy in weight objects, such as: machines installed on rubble bases, one and a half ton safes, tractors, cars - were torn from their places, circling in the whirlpool along with wooden objects, and then scattered over a huge area or carried into the strait.
As an indicator of the enormous destructive power of the second wave, the example of the State Bank storeroom, which is a reinforced concrete block weighing 15 tons, is typical. It was torn off from a 4 sq.m rubble base and thrown 8 meters.
Despite the tragedy of this disaster, the vast majority of the population did not lose their heads; moreover, in the most critical moments, many nameless heroes showed sublime heroic deeds: risking their lives, they saved children, women, and the elderly.
Here are two girls leading an old woman by the arms.
Pursued by the approaching wave, they try to run faster towards the hill. The old woman, exhausted, falls to the ground in exhaustion. She begs the girls to leave her and save themselves. But the girls, through the noise and roar of the approaching elements, shout to her: “We still won’t leave you, let us all drown together.” They pick up the old woman in their arms and try to run, but at that moment an incoming wave picks them up and throws them all together onto a hill. They are saved.
Losev's mother and young daughter, fleeing on the roof of their house, were thrown into the strait by a wave. Calling for help, they were noticed by people on the hill. Soon there, not far from the swimming Losevs, a little girl was seen on the board; as it later turned out, three-year-old Svetlana Embankment miraculously escaped, who then disappeared and then reappeared on the crest of the wave. From time to time she tucked her brown hair, blown by the wind, back with her little hand, which indicated that the girl was alive. The strait at that time was completely filled with floating houses, roofs, various demolished property and especially fishing gear, interfering with the navigation of boats. The first attempts to break through on boats were unsuccessful - continuous rubble prevented progress, and
During the run-up on the city of Severo-Kurilsk alone, the population and command of various watercraft picked up and rescued more than 15 children lost by their parents, and removed 192 people from roofs and other floating objects in the Strait, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the ocean.
Many responsible workers, notifying the population about the impending danger until the last minute, themselves became victims of the elements. Thus, the manager of the North Kuril Fish Trust, a member of the district committee of the CPSU, Comrade Alperin M.S., died.
In saving people and state property a lot of courage, initiative and resourcefulness were shown. For example, when a second, more menacing wave approaches fishing village Levashovo fishermen Puzachkov and Zimovin, believing that the island would flood, raised a cry: “Brothers! Save yourself on the kungas!” 18 men, women and children boarded the kungas, but before they could take the oars, they were caught by the ebb of the wave and carried far into the ocean. Thanks to their resourcefulness, replacing the oars with boards, they sailed to the shore on the second day. Comrade Zimovin and Puzachkov, together with their wives, actively participated in the collection of state property...
Many captains and crews of boats actively participated in rescuing people and property, and then in transporting people from the island to ships during significant storms without casualties. At the same time, a number of team members showed cowardice, abandoning the ships to the mercy of fate, and fled to the mainland with the first ships.
And, if the majority of the population, half-naked, with children under open air pierced by strong winds, rain and snow, courageously and steadfastly endured all hardships; individuals, taking advantage of the natural disaster, appropriated state values, property and disappeared with the first steamships. Individuals, including some military personnel, were engaged in looting... Many cases of looting were prevented by the military command, the population itself and the police...
As a result of a natural disaster, an almost empty area of ​​several square kilometers was formed on the site of the city of Severo-Kurilsk, and the existence of the city here is reminded only by individual foundations of buildings demolished by the wave, roofs of houses thrown out of the strait, lonely standing monument warriors Soviet army, the rubble frame of the radio station building, the central gate of the former stadium, various state, cooperative and personal property of citizens scattered over a huge area. The second wave caused especially enormous destruction to the city.
The third wave of water that followed 20 - 25 minutes later was less significant in height and strength, did not cause any destruction, and there was nothing to destroy. The third wave threw debris of buildings and various property out of the strait, which partially remained on the coast of the bay.
According to preliminary data, during the disaster, 1,790 civilians, military personnel died: officers - 15 people, soldiers - 169 people, family members - 14 people. Enormous damage was caused to the state, estimated at more than 85 million rubles through the Rybolovpotrebsoyuz. Great damage was caused to Voentorg, the military department, city and municipal services and private individuals.
Severo-Kurilsk, along with industry, institutions, and housing, was almost completely destroyed and washed away into the sea. The population was about 6,000 people, of whom about 1,200 died. All but a few corpses were washed out to sea. What remained were several houses located on a hill, a power station, part of the fleet and a lot of scattered property, canned goods, wine products and clothing. Also preserved are the main warehouse of the North Kuril Fishery and Consumer Union and Military Trade Union, several dozen horses, cows and pigs belonging to someone unknown.
In the village of Utesny, all production facilities and buildings were completely destroyed and washed into the ocean. One residential building and a stable remained... cigarettes, shoes, butter, cereals and other products were scattered in the water; 19 heads of cattle, 5 horses, 5 pigs and about 10 tons of hay. There were no casualties - the population was about 100 people, who were completely evacuated.
Reefovy village - no casualties. All production facilities and premises were destroyed and washed into the ocean. What remained intact were the refrigerator equipment, the central material warehouse and 41 residential buildings. The fleet was also destroyed, with the exception of 8 kungas and several broken boats. From the subsidiary farm, 37 heads of cattle, 28 pigs, 46 tons of flour, 10 tons of sugar, 5 tons of butter, 2 tons of alcohol and other inventory items worth 7-8 million rubles remained. The entire population, more than 400 people, were evacuated...
The village of Kamenisty - there was no population on the day of the disaster... In the village, all production facilities were completely demolished by water. There is only one house left from the housing stock.
The village of Pribrezhny - all industrial buildings and premises were destroyed and carried into the ocean. There remain 9 residential buildings located on a hill and one warehouse for technical and material property. There are no human casualties.
The living population, less than 100 people, was completely evacuated.
Galkino village - no casualties. The population was less than 100 people, who were completely evacuated. Manufacturing plants and living quarters were destroyed and washed into the ocean. Okeansky settlement - it housed a fish processing plant, a cannery, a caviar factory with workshops and two refrigerators, mechanical workshops, power plants, a sawmill, a school, a hospital and others
government agencies
. According to preliminary data, 460 people died from the disaster, 542 people survived and were evacuated. What remained were 32 residential buildings, more than a hundred heads of cattle, 200 tons of flour in stacks, 8 thousand cans of scattered canned food, 3 thousand cans of milk, 3 tons of butter, 60 tons of cereal, 25 tons of oats, 30 barrels of alcohol and other valuables. All industrial enterprises and housing stock were destroyed and washed away into the ocean.
Cape Vasiliev - everything is completely preserved.
The civilian population consisted of 12 people.
The village of Mayor Van - the base of the Shelekhovsky fish processing plant was located there. The village was not damaged. The population has been evacuated.
The village of Shelekhovo - there was a fish factory there. The population was 805 people, there was no destruction in the village. The population has been evacuated. 102 people left.
The village of Savushkino - it housed a military base with a subsidiary farm. There were no casualties, no destruction.
The village of Kozyrevsky - there were two fish factories there. The population was more than 1000 people, 10 people died from the disaster. The rest of the population was evacuated. Both factories were completely destroyed and washed out to sea. There are many cans of flounder and Kuril salmon scattered on the shore.
The village of Babushkino - a fish factory was located in it. The population was more than 500 people, there were no casualties. The population has been evacuated. A walkie-talkie and two radio operators were left behind.
Industrial enterprises are completely destroyed and washed away into the sea. The housing stock suffered 30-40%. The administrative building of the North Kuril regional branch of the State Bank was also completely demolished, the documentation was washed into the sea, but the safes and storage room of the State Bank, with the exception of one safe, were found near the location of the administrative building, in which all valuables worth about 9 million rubles were fully preserved. The values ​​of savings banks have been preserved in the villages of Shelekhovo, Baykovo and others, only 11 out of 14 savings banks; in the rest, the values ​​have been partially lost. Safes belonging to Severo-Kurilskaya
central cash register
, also found, personal accounts of depositors were not found.
Upon arrival in Severo-Kurilsk on November 8, 1952, in accordance with the decision of the commission of the regional committee of the CPSU, I organized the collection of state and public property both in Severo-Kurilsk and in a number of other flooded villages. Commission and police officers were sent to the villages to supervise the collection and protection of property...
As a result, during the period from November 10 to November 20, 1952, that is, before the snow drifts... in Severo-Kurilsk, alcohol and vodka products worth 8.75 million rubles were collected and stored in the warehouses of the Rybolovpotrebsoyuz, 126 tons of flour, which was delivered to warehouses military units..., 16 horses, 112 heads of cattle, 33 heads of small cattle, 9 heifers, 90 pigs, 32 piglets, 6 sheep. A large amount of material assets were collected and saved in the villages of Okeanskoye, Rifovoy and others.
On November 23, I, together with members of the commission of the regional committee of the CPSU Comrade Kuskov and the secretary of the district committee of the CPSU Comrade Orlov, traveled in a seiner to the villages of Rifovoye, Okeanskoye, Shelekhovo, where they were accepted necessary measures to strengthen the safety of the remaining property and ensure public order. Due to a strong storm, it was not necessary to land in other villages. By the time of departure, November 6..., Comrade Bezrodny (police officer) was offered...
- Upon arrival, police officers are sent to protect public order in the villages: Shelekhovo - 2 people, Rifovoye - 1 person, Okeanskoye - 1 person, Kozyrevskoye - 1 person;
- carefully take into account the entire population of the villages in the region, including the sailing crew;
- take an active part in organizing work to collect and protect state valuables remaining on the banks, as well as personal property of citizens...;
- wage a decisive fight against looting;
- take measures to identify those killed during a natural disaster, ensure the collection of documents of the victims...

Police Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov

3. From the interrogation protocol drawn up at the police department of Severo-Kurilsk

I, deputy head of the police department of the UMGB Sakhalin region, police colonel Smirnov, interrogated as a witness Pavel Ivanovich Smolin, born in 1925, native Krasnodar region, Kurganinsky district, Rodnikovskaya village, non-partisan, Russian, 6th grade education, married, 4-year-old son. Works on logger N 636 as a radio operator;

lived in Severo-Kurilsk, st. Sovetskaya, barracks No. 49, apt. 13; we do not judge; doesn't have any documents...

I have been working on logger N 636, owned by the North Kuril Fish Factory, as a radio operator since May or June 1952, and in total I have been working in the fishing industry on the North Kuril Islands since 1950. On the night of November 5, 1952, I, along with other fishermen, were at sea on a logger (fishing), or rather, we were in a ladle. At about 4 o'clock in the morning a great shaking of the ship was felt on the logger. I and other fishermen understood it as an earthquake... On the night of November 5... there was a storm warning of 6-7 points. After the earthquake, our logger, under the command of Captain Lymar, went to sea first. It was around 4 o'clock in the morning.
Walking along the Second Strait in the area of ​​Cape Banzhov, our logger was covered by the first wave several meters high. While in the cockpit, I felt that our ship seemed to be lowered into a hole, and then thrown high up. A few minutes later a second wave followed and the same thing happened again. Then the ship sailed calmly, and no surges were felt. The ship was at sea all day. Only at about 6 p.m. did some military radio station transmit to us: “Return to Severo-Kurilsk immediately. We are waiting at the apparatus. Alperin.” I immediately reported to the captain, who immediately answered: “I am returning to Severo-Kurilsk immediately.” By that time we had on board up to 70 quintals of fish caught per day. Loger headed for Severo-Kurilsk.
On the way back, I contacted logger N 399 by radio, asking the radio operator: “What happened to Severo-Kurilsk?” Radio operator Pokhodenko answered me: “Go to save people... after the earthquake, the wave washed away Severo-Kurilsk. We are standing under the side of the ship, the steering is out of order, the propeller is bent.” My attempts to contact Severo-Kurilsk were unsuccessful - he was silent. I contacted Shelekhov on the radio. The radio operator answered me: “There was a drain earthquake in Severo-Kurilsk, maybe something happened.” I told him that we were leaving at the time of the earthquake, and everything was fine there. This was the end of the conversation.
Even in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, before reaching the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu, the logger’s team, including me, saw roofs of houses, logs, boxes, barrels, beds, and doors floating towards us. By order of the captain, the crew was placed on the deck on both sides and on the bow in order to rescue people stranded at sea. But none of the people were found. Throughout the entire journey of 5-6 miles we observed the same picture: floating barrels, boxes, etc. dense mass.
Entering the Second Strait, four boats came towards us. Following them were two military boats. Some signals were given from the latter: apparently, with the aim of stopping the boats ahead.
But they continued to move forward.
Arriving at the roadstead, our logger approached logger N 399... whose captain asked our captain not to leave them... We replied that we would not abandon them and took anchor. There was no connection with the shore. The time was around 2-3 am on November 6, 1952. We were waiting for dawn. Lights were burning on the hills opposite Severo-Kurilsk. We believed that people were fleeing on the hills; there were a lot of fires burning. As dawn began, I and others discovered that the city of Severo-Kurilsk had been washed away.
At about 8 o'clock in the morning, I and other sailors, under the command of the third mate, Comrade Kryvchik, sailed on a boat to the cannery and landed here. People, including military men, were walking around the site of the city - collecting corpses... Having examined the place where the barracks in which I lived was located, I did not find any signs (of him)... I did not find any things belonging to me - that’s all was demolished. In my apartment I had clothes, a sewing machine, a savings book with a deposit of 15 thousand rubles, a military ID, seven medals... My family - wife, Smolina Anna Nikiforova, son, Alexander, four years old, arrived on November 6, 1953 by refrigerator from Vladivostok. She was on vacation and went to pick up her son in Krasnodar region
, to her homeland... I found her on a refrigerator on November 8th.
Now his wife and son are on board logger N 636, working as a cook.
From among the members of the crew of logger N 636, they found their families who escaped on the hills in Severo-Kurilsk, captain Lymar - his wife, senior mechanic Filippov - his wife and daughter, second mate Nevzorov - his wife; the third assistant mechanic Ivanov found a wife and four children; boarded the ship and left. First assistant mechanic Petrov found his wife and son and also left on the ship. The remaining family members live on the ship. In addition to the indicated persons who left the ship without permission, the boatswain, the trawl master and the trawl master's assistant disappeared... to this day the third mate has not returned on board. As a result, only 15 people remained from the logger team...

Smolin (signature)

NOTES:

* - Local History Bulletin No. 4, 1991 of the Sakhalin Regional local history museum and the Sakhalin branch of the All-Russian Cultural Fund.

1. A group of responsible workers headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Sakhalin Regional Executive Committee G.F. left for the disaster site from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
2. Skopinov. Alperin Mikhail Semenovich (1900-1952) - was born in Odessa into a working-class family. He worked in senior positions in the fishing industry of the Far East and Sakhalin. A talented organizer, he devoted a lot of effort to the establishment of a fish factory and factories in Southern Sakhalin
3. and the Kuril Islands. On May 7, 1952, he was appointed manager of the North Kuril State Fish Trust. Died on November 5, 1952 while saving people and state property during the tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk. Buried on November 7. Grave of M.S. Alperina is a monument of history and culture of the Sakhalin region.
4. The issue of casualties and other consequences of the disaster requires further study. As a result of the disaster on the islands of the North Kuril region, all fishing industry enterprises, warehouses for food and material assets, almost all institutions, cultural and social enterprises and almost 70% of the housing stock were destroyed and washed into the sea. Only the Shelekhovsky fish processing plant with its bases along the shore remained unharmed. Sea of ​​Okhotsk, where the wave height was no more than 5 meters.
5. The village of Utesny was located 7 km from the city of Severo-Kurilsk. Excluded from credentials as
6. The village of Rifovoye, the center of the village council of the same name. It was located in Rifovaya Bay. Excluded from the registration data as a populated area in 1962. The Reef Fishing Plant had branches in the villages of Pribrezhny and Kamenisty.
7. Loger is a fishing vessel of the SRT type.
8. At dawn on November 5, reconnaissance planes from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky appeared over the islands, inspecting the area and taking photographs. Following the scouts, throughout the day warm clothes, tents and food were dropped from airplanes for the affected population, who were fleeing around the fires. From dawn, planes began landing at the airport on Shumshu Island and taking the sick to Kamchatka.
9. At the same time, the surviving boats of the North Kuril State Fish Trust went into the strait to rescue people swept out to sea. Food and warm clothing were distributed to the population from military warehouses, and the sick were placed in the hospital.

The evacuation of the affected population of the North Kuril region began on November 6, 1952. Steamships from Petropavlovsk and Vladivostok began to arrive in the Second Kuril Strait. There were 40 vessels of various capacities waiting for loading here. By November 11, the entire population was evacuated. Most of them soon returned through Korsakov and Kholmsk to work in the Sakhalin region.

© Local History Bulletin No. 4, 1991

Everyone has heard about the deadly tsunami in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, but few people know that our country also fell victim to this natural disaster. On November 5, 1952, a powerful earthquake occurred near the Kuril Islands, resulting in a tsunami with 18-meter waves.

The city of Severo-Kurilsk, located on the island of Paramushir, took the full blow of the disaster. Until 1952, most of the city was located right on the coast, in a natural valley. Tsunamis are, unfortunately, not uncommon in these parts, but the city was completely unprepared for a disaster of this scale. Moreover, at that time there was no reliable information about what a tsunami was and how to behave correctly in such cases.

The residents who went down were covered by the second wave, which arrived 20-30 minutes later. This, according to experts, was the reason for such a large number of victims. According to official data alone, the city of Severo-Kurilsk lost 2,300 people on that terrible November day. In total, about 6,000 people lived in the city at that time. The military took part in eliminating the consequences of the tsunami. On the same day, warm clothes were delivered from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, people were provided medical care and meals were provided.

The city's infrastructure was completely destroyed. It was decided not to restore fish processing plants, a pier, residential buildings, social facilities and a military camp. The damage was too great. The city was rebuilt, and in the place where Severo-Kurilsk was located today there is a port. This terrible event was kept secret; it was not written about in newspapers or broadcast on the radio. They started talking openly about the Severo-Kurilsk tragedy only in the 90s.

After the horror suffered, the country's leadership began to think about creating a reliable warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis. This primarily concerned the Pacific region. The Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island - they all belong to the territory of the Pacific Ring of Fire. This is the name of the region located on the periphery of the Pacific Ocean and characterized by increased seismic activity. It's all about lithospheric plates, on the boundaries of which earthquakes regularly occur. The Pacific plate in this regard is one of the most active on the planet, and its boundaries are even separated into a special zone, called by geophysicists the Pacific Ring of Fire.

More than 60 years have passed since the disaster in Severo-Kurilsk. Today, about 2,500 people live here, mainly employed in the fishing industry. The city was rebuilt, and only the memory monument does not allow us to forget about that terrible day.