Estimation of Extreme Sea Levels for the Russian Coasts of the Kuril Islands and the Sea of Okhotsk

Abstract

Extreme sea levels arising from the combination of tides, storm surges, seasonal oscillations and tsunamis were estimated by the joint probability method for the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific coast of the Kuril Islands. The sea-level observations at 10 coastal tide gauges were examined. The tidal heights at most stations are about 1.5–2 m, and only at Magadan are they much larger (about 5 m). Storm surges have the largest heights for the central Kuril Islands (Matua and Iturup islands), while at the North and South Kuril Islands the surge heights are the smallest. The recurrence of tsunami heights of various probabilities was estimated for each station. The influence of tides and storm surges on the tsunami risk assessment for the Pacific coast of the Kurile Islands was found to be relatively small. For the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, the contribution of tides and surges is the primary influence, especially for return periods less than 100 years. For longer return periods, tsunamis play the major role in forming the extreme levels (similar to the Russian coast of the Sea of Japan, e.g., Rabinovich et al. 1992).