KURIL-OKHOTSK REGION

The review of the Kuril-Okhotsk region seismicity in 2014 is presented. Earthquake parameters were obtained on the basis of the data of the seismic stations of Sakhalin branch GS RAS and the data of neighboring seismological Russian and foreign agencies. 83.6 % of earthquakes are located within the depth interval of h80 km, 13.5 %  within the intermediate layer h=81–300 km, 2.9 % of earthquakes have depths h>300 km; the maximum depth of the hypocenter was h=559 km. The analysis of the seismic situation in 2014 in comparison with the data for 2001–2013 is carried out, a description of the seismic situation in seismically active regions is given. For 30 earthquakes information was obtained on the macroseismic effect in Russia, the maximum intensity did not exceed Ii=5; for 50 earthquakes there was information on the intensity in the territory of the Japanese Islands, the maximum value was Ii =67 by the MSK-64 scale. The strongest earthquake in the region occurred in the central part of the Sea of Okhotsk on September 18 at 04h17m with h=529 km and MSH=6.2. Its focal mechanism is classified as an incision with a small right-lateral strike-slip component along a subvertical plane of north-eastern strike. The seismicity of the region in 2014 can be considered as a moderate, the number of earthquakes with a magnitude MP≥4.5 and their total seismic energy do not exceed the average values over a 13-year period, the level of seismicity of the region according to the SOUS’09 method is classified as а “background average”. The distribution of earthquake hypocenters and their focal mechanisms show that most of the earthquakes in the Kuril-Okhotsk region relate to the process of the subduction of the Pacific lithospheric plate under the Okhotsk Sea plate.