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Russian nuclear submarine base hit by tsunami
Waves triggered by 8.8 magnitude earthquake damaged base that houses Pacific Fleet.
A satellite image of the Rybachiy base in Kamchatka shows a pier has bent away from its original position Credit: Umbra
Russia’s far east nuclear submarine base appears to have been damaged by the tsunami that swept the country’s Pacific coast on Wednesday, according to satellite imagery obtained by The Telegraph.
The waves, triggered by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake[/URL], hit the Rybachiy base in Kamchatka peninsula, which houses most of the nuclear submarines in Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
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.
Two nuclear-powered Yasen-class cruise missile submarines docked at the base. The nuclear submarines housed there, including newer Borei-class craft and Soviet-era Deltas, are the closest to the US aside from those on forward deployment.
Footage recorded elsewhere on Russia’s eastern coast showed waves up to five metres high swamping the shore.
Heavy damage can be seen in the port of Severo-Kurilsk, around twice as far from the earthquake’s epicentre as Avacha Bay.
In satellite photographs taken on July 17, a submarine can be seen moored at the pier that now appears to have been damaged. In both sets of imagery, a surface ship is moored on the western side of the pier.
