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Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2007, Kuril-Kamchatka Arc and Vicinity

August 27, 2010

This map shows details of the Kuril-Kamchatka arc not visible in an earlier publication, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3064. The arc extends about 2,100 km from Hokkaido, Japan, along the Kuril Islands and the pacific coast of the Kamchatka, Russia, peninsula to its intersection with the Aleutian arc near the Commander Islands, Russia. It marks the region where the Pacific plate subducts into the mantle beneath the Okhotsk microplate, a part of the larger North America plate. This subduction is responsible for the generation of the Kuril Islands chain and the deep offshore Kuril-Kamchatka trench. Relative to a fixed North America plate, the Pacific plate is moving northwest at a rate that decreases from 83 mm per year at the arc's southern end to 75 mm per year near its northern edge.

Publication Year 2010
Title Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2007, Kuril-Kamchatka Arc and Vicinity
DOI 10.3133/ofr20101083C
Authors Susan Rhea, Arthur C. Tarr, Gavin P. Hayes, Antonio H. Villaseñor, Kevin P. Furlong, Harley Benz
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Open-File Report
Series Number 2010-1083
Index ID ofr20101083C
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geologic Hazards Science Center