April 25, 1843 Tsunami: SE. Hokkaido Island, Japan

1843. A tsunami occurred in the southern Kurile Islands and at Hokkaido.

The original account of the tsunami at Urup I. must be in the archives of the Russian-American Company. There are in existence two published accounts: Perrey (there is a Russian translation in Mushketov and Orlov, 1893) and P.N. Doroshin (1870).

Perrey got the account from F. P. Osten-Saken, secretary of the Russian Geographic Society in the '60s and at the same time a responsible official in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At Perrey's request, Osten-Saken reviewed the records of the Russian-American Company for the years 1840-1860 and sent him all of the information that he found there concerning seismic and volcanic phenomena in the territories of the company.

P.N. Doroshin compiled a list of earthquakes in the same territories for the years 1840-1866 on the basis of similar material and also of his own notes which he made during his service with the Company.

Below we present the text of Doroshin with small additions from the text of Osten-Saken.

"On April 13, 1843, at Urup at sunrise there were two strong shocks three seconds apart. They were preceded by a roar like distant thunder. The shocks came from the southwest and continued for seven seconds. After about three [?] minutes, with a fresh west wind, the water began to flow with terrible swiftness out of the bay [Aleutka] where the settlement was located, and the bottom of the bay was left completely dry. Then with the same speed the bay again filled with water and even inundated the shore to a considerable height. For several days the water was in constant movement; now it would come in, now go down, and each change was accompanied by a strong rip (agitation from the meeting of the currents)."

This earthquake, apparently was one of the catastrophic ones, as it was observed on all of the southern Kurile Island and on the east coast of Hokkaido. In the Nemuro and Kushiro areas the earthquake attained destructive force. Thus, it is reported that in the town of Akkeshi, situated between these two points, one of the tombs was moved 1.5 m.; in the temple grounds fissures 10-15 cm. wide were formed. The earthquake was followed by destructive tsunamis; in the Kushiro area the height of the waves was 4.5 m. Especially affected by the tsunamis were the villages located on the shores of Akkeshi Bay which has the shape of a bent funnel, penetrating deeply into the land. In the village of Shinryu, at the bend of the funnel, all of the houses were washed away by the waves and 45 persons perished.

According to Japanese estimates, the intensity (magnitude) of the earthquake was M = 8.25 to 8.5. Taking into the account the considerable extent of the center of the quake and the area of occurrence of the tsunami, this estimates seems likely to be correct.

(above from reference #413)

April 25, 1845, 42 N, 146 E, magnitude 8.4, tsunami intensity 2, validity 4. 46 deaths, 75 houses destroyed. Akeeshi 4.5 m, Hanasaki 3m, Hakodate 1 m, Hachinohe 2.5-3 m, Shiranuka 3-3.5 m high tsunami. Many houses and ships washed away, and 46 drowned

at Akkeshi and Shinryu villages. (reference #150)

April 25, 1843, 41.8 N, 144.8 E, magnitude 8.4, E. Hokkaido - S. Kuril Islands, tsunami intensity 2.2. Great damage by tsunami after quake. Many houses completed washed away and 45 deaths at Shinryu village. (reference #79)

April 25, 1843. Sea waves on the coasts of Oshima, Kushiro and Nemuro; two large waves counted in 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (reference #1897)