Catastrophic avalanches on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands (1910–2020)

Abstract

Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands are among the most dangerous regions in Russia in terms of the impact of avalanches on the population and economics. The orographic conditions of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands impose limitations on the selection of areas for housing settlements and economic enterprises, that is why many of them are situated in avalanche-prone zones. Sixty-three settlements of the region are located in such zones. The article provides the most complete recent information about catastrophic avalanches on Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands for the period from 1910 to 2020. During this time, 256 events of releases of the catastrophic avalanches were recorded; as a result of which 1203 people were injured, and 783 died. Information on the conditions when catastrophic avalanches release and their characteristics are presented. It was found that during this period cases of people being caught or deceased in avalanches took place in 72% of winters, and in 12% of them there were five or more catastrophic avalanches per season. The largest number of catastrophic avalanches released on the western coast of Southern Sakhalin, which was conditioned by significant economic development and the high avalanche activity on this area. Despite the large number of avalanche victims, engineering avalanche protection still exists on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands only on a very limited number of sites, and avalanche prevention services are few and cannot provide an adequate level of avalanche safety on these territories.

Keywords

• лавина
• лавинная катастрофа
• лавинная опасность
• сахалин
• курильские острова