NUMERICAL MODELING OF THE NEVELSK EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI OF 2 AUGUST 2007

Abstract

The anomalous tsunamigenic earthquake, which occurred on August 2, 2007 at 02.37 GMT in the Tatar Strait, near the western coast of Sakhalin Island (Nevel’sk earthquake), is examined. Though the magnitude of the main shock was M=6.2, the tsunami waves generated by this earthquake were abnormally large, reaching heights of more than 3 meters at some points of the coast. Generally, earthquakes of similar magnitudes do not cause significant tsunami waves but only waves, which are very weak. Also unusual about this event was the distribution of maximum wave heights along the entire west coast of Sakhalin Island, from Chekhov to Korsakov, which were proceeded by recessions of coastal water. The present study presents the numerical simulation of this earthquake and of the tsunami it generated. Two scenarios of possible seismic sources are being considered, the dynamics of which can explain the unusual distributions of tsunami wave heights along the coast.

Keywords

• earthquake source
• anomalous tsunami waves
• numerical simulation