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Russia Final Hazards Report

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The most common disasters that occur in Russia are a result of the permafrost in Siberia, which causes floods in the spring and forest fires in the summer and fall. Global warming is causing the rapid melting of the permafrost which results in floods during the colder seasons. In contrast, the vegetation is unaccustomed to the unprecedented temperatures in the summer and often suffers from uncontrolled blazes. While these developments have sporadically increased in the past few years due to climate change, they have occurred before. In July 2012, severe flooding killed 172 people and collapsed 7,200 homes. Two years prior in July more than 20 regions of the Russian Federation saw 30,000 wildfires due to a 40° Celsius heatwave that killed more than fifty people and burned down 2,200 houses. While climate change has caused flooding and wildfires to occur more frequently, they are not the worst disasters to affect Russia historically. The total 33 tsunami tidal wives that have hit Rus...
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Russian Coastal Erosion

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In Russia, 25,000 km of the total 61,000 km length of the marine coast suffers from extreme erosion. Rising sea levels meeting areas of thermokarst causes the Russian Arctic (permafrost) coastline to be especially vulnerable to erosion. Furthermore, areas of unconsolidated sediments facing thermal abrasions of their melting permafrost results in rapid coastal recession. Therefore, it is no surprise that in the Laptev Sea area, the coastline is receding by 2.5m annually.  The Caucasian Black Sea is comprised of a high percentage of easily erodable rocks and faces a coastal recession of 0.7m per year. The Tuzla Split is a big body of quartz sand, shell, and pebble, and is degrading despite the protection from a nearby dam. The areas where shore-protecting constructions were erected are in bad condition and not protecting the shores from erosion. Furthermore, a longshore transport stream of deposits has been interrupted by a system of breakwaters and groins, which intercept ...
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Russia's Extreme Weather

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Russia's most common dangerous weather is "heavy rainfalls and floods, forest and peat fires, and strong winds that help spread the fires" ( Climate Scorecard ). The most active time period for these occurrences is from May to September each year due to specific atmospheric conditions.  The weather was especially extreme in 2015 when powerful wind in the Republic of Khakasiya reached up to 31 m/s during a hot, dry season and caused massive damage to grids, trees, and 1,371 private houses where twenty-three people died. The next year heavy rainfall in Rostov-on-Don resulted in flooded streets and sinkholes, leaving six injured and one dead.  Fortunately, the Unified Emergency Prevention & Response State System (RSChS) was created in Russia in 1992 to alert the population of dangerous weather and keep citizens safe. The organization is responsible for forecasting alerts, preparing the masses for natural disasters, and reserving financial and material resources.  In...
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Russia's Mass Waste

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Landslides threaten over 725 Russian cities, including major cities such as Moscow and Volgograd. The southeastern coast of Russia undergoes the highest amounts of mass waste, as shown by the map below. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) attributes the frequency increases of mass wasting to changes in heat waves, glacial retreat, and/or permafrost degradation that contribute to slope instabilities, mass movements, and glacial lake outburst floods. Additionally, the IPCC also believes that temperature changes affect bedrock stability. In conclusion, scientists are pinning global warming as the main cause of the increase in disasters like landslides and avalanches. Sources:  https://www.climatechangepost.com/russia/avalanches-and-landslides/ https://thinkhazard.org/en/report/204-russian-federation/LS Photo Source: https://thinkhazard.org/en/report/204-russian-federation/LS
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Russia's Volcanoes

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Of Russia's 117 Holcene volcanoes, 33 have been active since 1950 ( Smithsonian Global Volcano Program ). Volcanoes Ebeko, Karymsky, Bezymianny, and Sheveluch have been erupting since August 2022. The majority of Russia's volcanoes--130 volcanoes--are located in the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is part of the Ring of Fire. Kamchatka is currently populated by over 40,000 people ( Oregon State ).  Due to the large threat that volcanic ash poses to aviation, scientists belonging to the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry (IVGG) and the Kamchatkan Experimental and Methodical Seismological Department (KEMSD) banded together to create the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) ( USGS ). This team closely collaborated with the United States Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) to monitor seismic activity in the peninsula to keep the surrounding areas secure.  Photo Source: Phys.org
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Russia's Earthquakes

 Due to Russia's size and numerous tectonic plates, earthquakes are a very common occurrence. In the past 30 days, Russia has experienced 21 earthquakes--2 of which occurred in the last seven days. The most recent earthquake happened in Dolinsk, Sakhalin, Russia on September 10th, 2022, with a magnitude of 4.5.  Russia has endured multiple tsunamis that were caused by megathrust earthquakes in the eastern Russia region of the Kamchatka Peninsula. One of the largest earthquakes happened in 2013 in the Sea of Okhotsk, where the 8.3 magnitudes created shaking that lasted for five minutes. Houses collapsed in Samara, many small cracks appeared in Moscow's infrastructure, and a bridge cracked in Yakutsk.  The deadliest earthquake in Russia was the 1952 Kamchatka Tsunami which killed 10,000-15,000 people. This magnitude 9.0 earthquake generated 50 feet-high waves and reached Peru, Chili, New Zealand, and Hawaii.  Info Source: https://www.wsspc.org/resources-reports/ts...
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Russia's Tectonic Plates

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Russia lies on three major tectonic plates - the Eurasian, the North American, and the Pacific plates - as well as the hypothesized microplates Okhotsk, Bering, and Amurian.  One of the most active areas in Russia is the Kamchatka Peninsula in Far East Russia. This is one of the most volcanically active parts of the world with the highest density and activity of volcanoes. Kamchatka belongs to a portion of the Ring of Fire and the Okhotsk, North American, and Pacific plates meet together directly underneath. Kamchatka has 130 volcanoes with 29 that are currently active. This peninsula is bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Sea of Okhotsk in the west, creating "a 1,250-kilometer long portion of the 2,000-kilometer long Kuril-Kamchatka island arc" (Oregon State University).  Photo Source: https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/russia Info Source: https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/russia
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