The Soviet Union’s secret tsunami

This July, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the Kamchatka peninsula, in Russia’s far east. This wasn’t the first time a huge tsunami had hit Kamchatka, writes Patrick Sharrocks.

In 1952, an even more powerful earthquake hit the same fault line – but it was kept hidden from the world.

Kamchatka is no stranger to seismic activity, with a large earthquake occurring as recently as 2020 (the fourth most powerful anywhere in the world that year). However, only the biggest earthquakes can create large destructive tsunamis and cause Pacific-wide warnings like those experienced on Wednesday, 30 July 2025.

Read the full story by PhD researcher Patrick David Sharrocks in The Conversation.