Russian Nuclear Submarine Base Damaged By Tsunami, Satellite Images Reveal

Last week’s widely reported underwater earthquake off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula (on July 30) resulted in a tsunami which appears to have impacted the Rybachiy naval base, newly published satellite images show.

Crucially the Rybachiy base is Russia’s primary hub for nuclear submarines in the Pacific, and so was bound to feel some level of impact from an earthquake measuring 8.8 in magnitude which erupted just 140km away.

International reports say that when the earthquake struck, two Yasen-class nuclear-powered attack submarines were observed docked at the base – and in the path of the tsunami; however, there’s as yet no evidence of damage to the vessels themselves. Watch the visual comparison below:

Instead, some of the base infrastructure has been observed as suffering damage, according to satellite imagery analysis featured in The Telegraph.

“A section of one pier has bent away from its original position, possibly indicating that it was detached from its moorings, images taken by the Umbra Space satellite on Thursday morning have revealed,” the report says.

“It does not appear that a submarine was moored alongside at the time of impact and experts said damage to the structure alone would have little military significance,” it adds, before concluding: “However, questions were raised about whether the tsunami caused any further harm to the base, which was thought to have been hit within 15 minutes of the earthquake.”

The before and after satellite images featured by The Telegraph:

In the aftermath last week, pictures and videos widely circulated online showing significant damage to buildings and other infrastructure, amid flooding, at various locations in Kamchatka, particularly at Pacific ports and harbors.

Adding to worries about the area, the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano on the peninsula had also erupted.

Images showed that tsunami waves flooded an area in Severo-Kurilsk, Sakhalin Region, Russia:

According to The War Zone, “Russia has been moving in recent years to replace all of its remaining Soviet-era Delta class SSBNs with Borei types. The Delta III class submarine Ryazan, also known by its hull number K-44, appears to still be present at Rybachiy based on available satellite imagery, but whether it is actually operational or not is unclear.”