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

P A C I F I C O C E A N

H O K K A I D O

S A K H A L I N

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J A P A N

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I s l

a n d s

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O n e k o t a n

P a r a m u s h i r

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T r

e n c

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A

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1

Ay

OMU

Due

YUNI

Maku

ONOR

Khoe Ulva

Nysh

OTARUBIBAI

OKETORuchi Anama

SHARI

RUMOI

RAUSU

AsahiSeiwa

Rokko

Kyoei

Aniva

Bykov

UstyeKhaty

Pilve

Kongi

GorkiTangi

Irkir

Dautu

YUBARITomari Tokiwa EBETSU

Sakura

YOICHI

MIKASANEMURO

BEKKAI

ATSUTA Odaito

Fujimi

YawaraHINODE

KuzureKITAMI

NUMATA

ENGARUTOKORO

NAYOROHABORO OKOPPE

BIFUKA Hassen MammaeIodnyy

TESHIO ESASHISeseki

ShanaiRybaki

Luzhki

Pravda

Tomari

Buruny

Dalniy

Orlovo

VANINO

Palevo

Belaya

ChamguArkovo

MgachiZimniy

SHIMIZUAKKESHI

SAPPOROIkutora

TOBETSU

Notsuka

AKABIRA

MASHIKEWASSAMU

Hideura YUBETSUTyatino

TOMAMAEPtichye

EMBETSU Kasatka

OsenniyZolotoy

KurilskKitovyy

KafukaiWAKKANA

Matoiso

TaranayNEVELSK

KHOLMSK

DOLINSK

Chekhov

Firsovo

MAKAROV

Belkino

Langeri

Kitovyy

Galkino

Longari SholashBalagan

Lopatka

Grotava

ViakhtuParkata

Nogliki

SHINTOKU POMBETSU

KAMOENAI

Hamanaka

Futamata Atsutoko

FURUBIRA

SHIBECHA

SUNAGAWA

Aitomari

TAKIKAWA

Futamata SHIBETSU

MOSEUSHITSUBETSU

Kombuusu

KamikawaAlekhino

ABASHIRI

KEMBUCHI

SHIBETSUTAKINOUE

Nazarovo

MOMBETSU

Kruglovo

Riyaushi

MysovayaOdesskiy

HORONOBETOYOTOMI

Senhoshi

NumakawaSokitani

Slavnoye

Dalnyaya

Atlasovo

Novikovo

Ozerskiy

DachnoyeVysokaya

Ilinskiy

AynskoyePorechye

Staritsa Tumanovo

PorechyeOlkhovka

Gastello Kotikovo

Onekotan

Koshevoy

SMIRNYKHPOBEDINO

Makeyevo

Moskolvo

Trambaus

Olenevod

IsobunnaiAKANKOHAN

TESHIKAGA

KawashimoRUBESHIBE

KOSHIMIZU

Horokanai

OtoineppuShibiutan

Tayezhnyy

UTANOBORI

Parusnoye

Medvezhye

Podgornyy

Shebunino Kirillovo

Sarychevo

Leontyevo

Parusnoye

Medvezhye

UGLEGORSKPORONAYSK

LEONIDOVO

LESOGORSK Matrosovo

Nerpichye

VasilyevoAbramoyka

Saushkino

DE-KASTRI Pauzhetka

Sushchevo

Otradnoye

ASHOROBUTO

RIKUMBETSU

MEMAMBETSU

Chikkaporo

Motodomari

Chippuporo

KuznetsovoMedvedevka

Anfeltsevo

Okhotskoye

Svobodnoye

BelinskoyeZaozernaya

SHAKHTERSK

Sergeyevka

Telnovskiy

Peskoyskiy

Pervomaysk

Shelikhovo

Ust-AgnevoBabushkinoKirovskoye

Tymovskoye

Ado-Tymovo

Zaporozhye

Tulinskoye

Naka-ashoro

SHOSAMBETSU

Soya-misaki

Perevalnaya

KRASNOGORSK

Obryvistoye

KrasnopolyeLermontovka

Vladimirovo

ProstornoyeBoshnyakovo

Oktyabrskiy

OZERNOVSKIY

Rukushibetsu

GORNOZAVODSK

Kostromskoye

Arkovo-Bereg Molodezhnoye

Kobukarikotan

Starodubskoye

Shirokaya Pad

Pogranichnoye

Voskresenovka

Yuzhno-Kurilsk

Higashirucharu

SEVERO KURILSK

Novotambovskoye

Staromayachnoye

Innokentyevskiy

Uska-Orochskaya

Vozvrashcheniye

Homa-onishibetsu

SOVETSKAYA GAVAN

Bolshiye Sanniki

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSKNovoaleksandrovsk

ALEKSANDROVSK SAKHALINSKIY

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Raikoke

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Daisetsu

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Urataman

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Medvezhia

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Tri Sestry

Prevo Peak

Zheltovsky

Kuntomintar

ChirinkotanKharimkotan

Mashkovtsev

Lvinaya Past

Kolokol Group

Sarychev Peak

Karpinsky Group

Goriaschaia Sopka

Tao-Rusyr Caldera

Sea of Okhotsk Earthquake of 17 November 2002

0 100 200 300 40050

Kilometers

SCALE 1:2,500,000Albers Equal Area Projection

130°

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Kuril Tre

nch

PA C I F I C O C E A N

S E A O FO K H O T S K

N o r t h w e s tP a c i f i cB a s i n

Kuril Basin

S E A O F J A P A N

R U S S I A N F E D E R A T I O N

CHINA

JAPAN

Kuril

Isla

nds

P A C I F I C P L A T E

E U R A S I A NP L A T E

NORTH AMERICANPLATE

BERINGSEA

Vladivostok

Khabarovsk

Sapporo

Sikhote

Alin R

a.

82 mm/yr

77 mm/yr

Commander Is.

Em

peror Seam

ounts

DETAILED MAP

Kam

chat

ka P

en.

Khabarovsk

Yakutiya Magadan

Amur

Kamchatka

Maritime Terr.

Koryakskiy Auto. Reg.

Heilongjiang

Sakhalin

Hokkaido

Chukchi

Jilin

Tohoku

Jewish Auto. Reg.

Hamgyong-bukto

2002

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SCALE 1:21,000,000Albers Equal-Area Projection

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PA C I F I C O C E A N

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S E A O F J A P A N

R U S S I A N F E D E R A T I O N

CHINA

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NORTH AMERICANPLATE

BERINGSEA

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Alin R

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Commander Is.

DETAILED MAP

Kam

chat

ka P

en.

Khabarovsk

Yakutiya Magadan

Amur

Kamchatka

Maritime Terr.

Koryakskiy Auto. Reg.

Heilongjiang

Sakhalin

Hokkaido

Chukchi

Jilin

Tohoku

Jewish Auto. Reg.

Hamgyong-bukto

2002

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JAPAN

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DETAILED MAP

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SCALE 1:21,000,000Albers Equal-Area Projection

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Kilometers

SCALE 1:21,000,000Albers Equal-Area Projection

0 200 400 600 800100

Kilometers

Earthquake History 1900 - 2002Plate Tectonic Setting

Generalized Seismic Hazard

500 km 400 km 300 km 200 km 100 km 0 km 100 km 200 km

500 km 400 km 300 km 200 km 100 km 0 km 100 km 200 km

600 km

500 km

400 km

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500 km

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0 km

A A'

1937

19951976

196819961920

2002

19001924

General Interest Product xxx

Seismic hazard is expressedas peak ground acceleration(PGA) in meters/sec**2 ex-pected in a 50-yr period with a probability of 10 percent.

RELATIVE PLATE MOTIONS

The relative motion of adjacent tectonicplates is depicted on the map by short vectors located at selected locationson the plate boundary. In this present-ation, one plate is assumed to be rigid and fixed. The vector therefore repre-sents the direction of the moving platerelative to the fixed plate. The rate of relative motion is labelled next tothe vector.

The components of the vector perpendic-ular and parallel to the plate margin approximate convergent/divergent and transverse direction of motion between the plates,respectively. As viewed from the rigid plate, an inward directed com-ponent suggests compression at and near the plate boundary that may be expressedas crustal folding, uplift, thrustfaulting, or plate subduction. Similar-ly, an outward directed component sug-gests plate divergence such as would be expected at a zone of crustal spreading.Transcurrent or transform faultingwould be expected when the predominantvector component is parallel to theplate margin.

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

DATA SOURCES

EARTHQUAKES AND SEISMIC HAZARD USGS, National Earthquake Information Center NOAA, National Geophysical Data Center IASPEI, Centennial Catalog (1900 - 1999) Handbook of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program

PLATE TECTONICS Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcano Program

BASE MAP NIMA and ESRI, Digital Chart of the World USGS, EROS Data Center

DISCLAIMER

Base map data, such as place names and politicalboundaries, are the best available but may not be current or may contain inaccuracies and thereforeshould not be regarded as having official significance.

Map prepared by U.S. Geological SurveyNational Earthquake Information Center11 December 2002Map not approved for release by Director USGS

EXPLANATIONMain Shock

Mw = 7.3

Peak Ground Acceleration

0.0 - 0.2 m/sec**2

0.2 - 0.4

0.4 - 0.8

0.8 - 1.6

1.6 - 3.2

3.2 - 6.4

6.4 - 9.8

Plate Boundaries

Convergent

Diffuse

Transform

Volcanoes

Political Boundaries

International

Administrative

EXPLANATIONMain Shock

Mw = 7.3

Magnitude Classes

5.0 - 6.0

6.0 - 7.0

7.0 - 8.0

M >= 8.0

Depth Classes

0 - 69 km

70 - 299

300 - 520

Plate Boundaries

Convergent

Diffuse

Transform

Volcanoes

Political Boundaries

International

Administrative

LARGEST EARTHQUAKES IN THE EPICENTRAL AREA 1900 - 2002 (M GE 7.3)

YR MO DY LAT LON DEPTH MAG

1900 1 31 48.000 146.000 450 7.50 1901 4 5 44.500 149.000 35 7.30 1905 9 1 45.000 143.000 250 7.30 1907 5 25 50.500 148.000 600 7.40 1911 5 4 51.000 157.000 240 7.40 1913 8 1 47.500 155.500 0 7.50 1915 5 1 47.500 154.500 35 7.90 1916 10 31 45.400 154.000 0 7.60 1918 9 7 46.812 150.253 242 7.60 1918 11 8 43.816 152.775 64 7.50 1922 10 24 47.267 152.190 35 7.30 1929 1 13 50.447 154.872 35 7.40 1937 2 21 44.241 149.605 56 7.30 1942 11 26 45.405 150.175 76 7.40 1950 2 28 46.000 144.000 340 7.50 1956 10 11 45.967 150.548 105 7.30 1958 11 6 44.329 148.623 35 8.40 1963 10 13 44.770 149.798 13 8.60 1963 10 20 44.772 150.563 28 7.90 1968 1 29 43.586 146.701 40 7.30 1969 1 19 44.891 143.207 237 7.30 1969 8 11 43.478 147.815 46 8.20 1971 9 5 46.555 141.187 18 7.30 1973 6 17 43.223 145.743 43 7.80 1973 6 24 43.356 146.422 33 7.30 1978 3 23 44.982 148.523 21 7.60 1978 3 23 44.359 149.113 8 7.50 1978 3 24 44.233 148.923 12 7.50 1978 12 6 44.455 146.475 181 7.80 1991 12 22 45.589 151.036 25 7.60 1993 1 15 43.027 144.154 100 7.60 1993 6 8 51.195 157.756 61 7.50 1994 10 4 43.829 147.329 35 8.30 1994 10 9 43.966 147.893 35 7.30 1994 10 9 43.754 148.029 36 7.30 1995 12 3 44.708 149.262 24 7.90 2002 11 17 47.979 146.276 498 7.30

Depth Profile A - A'

SEA OF OKHOTSK

17 November 2002 04:53:50.67 UTC47.979 N., 146.276 E.Depth 498 kmMw = 7.3 (USGS)

This earthquake was located northwest of the Kuril Islands in theSea of Okhotsk and was distinguished by its great depth (see Depth Profile A - A'). No aftershocks have been located as of this date.

Felt in eastern Hokkaido. Recorded (3 JMA) in eastern Hokkaido and northern Honshu; (2 JMA) in south-central Hokkaido and northeastern Honshu; (1 JMA) in southwestern Hokkaido and Akita,Ishikawa, Nagano, Yamagato and Yamanashi Prefectures, Honshu. Also recorded (1 JMA) in Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku and Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu.

DISCUSSION

This earthquake occurred beneath the Sea of Okhotsk between the Rus-sian Federation island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Seismicity in this region results from the convergence of the Pacific plate and the NorthAmerican plate. The Pacific plate is subducting beneath the North American plate at a rate of about 80 mm per year. The region near the epicenter contains several significant tectonic features including the Kuril Trench and the parallel Kuril island arc containing numerous vol-canoes. The Kuril Trench marks the surface contact of the Pacific plate and the overriding North American plate.

Subduction zones produce numerous earthquakes from multiple sources.Shallow earthquakes occur within the crust of the overriding plate between the trench and the volcanic arc at the interface between the plates.Deeper earthquakes occur mostly within the subducting plate . Given the earthquake's fault mechanism and depth, it likely results from internal deformation of the Pacific plate as it descends into the mantle (see Depth Profile A - A' panel).