October 16, 1737 Tsunami: Kamchatka, Russia

1737, Oct 17, 03:00. 51.5 N, 160 E, magnitude 8.5 Ms. Eastern coast from Cape Lopatka to Ust-Kamchatsk settlement. Western coast from Cape Lopatka to Ust' Kamchatsk settlement, Commander Isl.

The tsunami of this year, according to some data, can be considered the strongest of all those known on Kamchatka and Kurile Islands.

Through persons who have come from the Kuril, from the islands and from Cape Lopatka, also from Avacha, I have learned that there was a great earth tremor there, which began at all of the places mentioned at the same time.

On the first of the Kurile Islands, called Sumshchu [Shumehu], the earthquake was of the following form. On October 17 [October 6 Julian calendar] at 3 o'clock in the night the earth shook so sharply at first that many huts fell down. This quake came in waves from the SSE, and as soon as the shaking ceased suddenly came from the sea with great noise about 3 sazhens [6 m] of water, which immediately went out again far to sea.

With the recession of the water the earth shook again, only very slightly, and afterwards the water again came from the sea to the same place where it had been the first time. After a quarter of an hour the waters of the sea for the third time, with a very great noise, came up to about 10 sazhens higher than the previous places, which carried away many native dwellings. This water ran off again into the sea and throughout two days rose and fell.

Around Lopatka and at Avacha the quake began at the same date and hour, only it was slight the first time, but the second and third times it was as on the island, very sharp, so that many huts fell down. After the third time, the water came from the sea with a great noise, about 15 sazhens high, covering - all of the low places round about and also the lower hills. It carried away many native dwellings, baggage, food, and skin boats and caused no little loss to the Russians who were there at the time, who, leaving all of their baggage in the yurts, had to flee to high ground and there seek to save themselves. Between the rivers Viliuchik and the Avacha cove a small new cove was made. The place where the cove was formed was a meadow with kliukva and shiksha berries and two huts stood there in which the natives had put food. At the time of the great water the huts were carried away with the ground and two native women and a man who were in the huts were drowned.

An excerpt from a journal provide grounds for supposing that in 1737 strong tsunamis also lashed the Komandorsky Islands:

The greatest changes on the island [Bering] may have resulted from earthquakes and high sea tides. Indubitable signs of powerful inundations were driftwood, bones of whales, and whole skeletons of sea cows which had been carried high up on the shores or far into ravines toward the center of the island. By the age of the drift logs I could conclude quite confidently that in the inundation of 1738 [an obvious error; 1737 is meant] on the coasts of Kamchatka and the Kurile Islands, the waters also lashed Bering Island to a height greater than 30 sazhene [64 m]

(above ref #413)

Ref #11787 states the following regarding Georg W. Steller account (in ref #413): "The abbreviation f or ft instead of the word foot (feet), which was interpreted by the clerks as fathom." "in the Russian translation of the fair copy, fathom (1.83 m) was replaced by Russian fathom, or sazhen (2.13 m), a unit of length formerly used in Russia, and the already six times overestimated tsunami height (30 fathoms = 54.9 m) was increased by another nine meters." "Reality the height of the 1737 tsunami runup on Bering Island was hardly more than 3-4 m; only in individual narrow valleys of the rivers flowing into small and shallow bays could it have reached 8-10 m."

Note: ref #14192 estimates an earthquake magnitude 9.3 Mw, based on tsunami data shown to be inaccurate by ref #11787