In Severo-Kurilsk, the expression "live like on a volcano" can be used
without quotes. There are 23 volcanoes on Paramushir island, five of them
acting. Ebeko, located seven kilometers from the city, from
time comes alive and releases volcanic gases.
In calm weather and with a westerly wind, they reach Severo-Kurilsk - the smell
it is impossible not to feel hydrogen sulfide and chlorine. Usually in such
cases, the Sakhalin Hydrometeorological Center transmits a storm warning about
air pollution: toxic gases are easy to poison. Eruptions on
Paramushira in 1859 and 1934 caused mass poisoning of people and
death of pets ..….
Therefore, volcanologists in such cases call
residents of the city to use masks for protection of breathing and filters for
water purification.
The site for the construction of Severo-Kurilsk was chosen
without conducting a volcanological examination. Then, in the 1950s, the main thing
it was - to build a city not lower than 30 meters above sea level. After
the tragedy of 1952, the water seemed more terrible than fire.
A few hours later, the tsunami wave reached the Hawaiian Islands, 3000 km from the Kuriles.
Flooding on Midway Island (Hawaii, USA) caused by the North Kuril tsunami.
Classified tsunami
Wave
tsunami after the earthquake in Japan this spring came to
Kuril Islands. Low, one and a half meter. But in the fall of 1952
the eastern coast of Kamchatka, the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu were on
the first line of blow of the elements. North Kuril Tsunami 1952 became
one of the five largest in the history of the twentieth century.
Town
Severo-Kurilsk was destroyed. The Kuril and Kamchatka villages were swept away
Cliff, Levashovo, Reef, Stony, Coastal, Galkino, Ocean,
Podgorny, Major Van, Shelekhovo, Savushkino, Kozyrevsky, Babushkino,
Baikovo ...
In the fall of 1952, the country lived an ordinary life. V
the Soviet press, Pravda and Izvestia, did not get a single line: not about
tsunami in the Kuril Islands, or thousands of people killed.
A picture of what happened can be restored from the recollections of eyewitnesses, rare photographs.
Writer Arkady Strugatsky,
who served in those years in the Kuril Islands as a military translator, took part in
elimination of the consequences of the tsunami. I wrote to my brother in Leningrad:
"...I AM
was on the island of Syumusyu (or Shumshu - look at the southern tip of Kamchatka).
What I saw, did and experienced there - I can’t write yet. I can only say
that I visited the area where the disaster I wrote to you about gave itself
to know is especially strong.
Shumushu Black Island, Shumushu Wind Island, in
the rocks-walls of Shumushu hit the ocean with a wave. The one who was in Shumushu was in that
night on Shumushu, remembers how the ocean went to attack Shumushu; How to the piers
Shumushu, and on the pillboxes of Shumushu, and on the roofs of Shumushu, the ocean crashed down with a roar; How in
in the hollows of Shumushu, and in the trenches of Shumushu - in the bare hills Shumushu raged
Ocean. And in the morning, Shyumushu, there are many corpses to the walls-rocks Shyumushu, Shyumushu,
brought out the Pacific Ocean. Shumushu Black Island, Shumushu Island of Fear. Who lives
at Shumushu, he is looking at the ocean.
I wove these verses under
the impression of seen and heard. I don't know how from a literary point
point of view, but from the point of view of facts - everything is correct ... "
War!
V
those years, the work of registering residents in Severo-Kurilsk was not really well established
was. Seasonal workers, classified military units, the composition of which is not
was disclosed. According to the official report, in 1952 in Severo-Kurilsk
inhabited by about 6,000 people.
82-year-old South Sakhalin citizen Konstantin Ponedelnikov
in 1951 he went with his comrades to the Kuril Islands, to earn extra money. Built
houses, plastered walls, helped to install reinforced concrete salting
vats at the fish processing plant. In those years in the Far East there were many
newcomers: arrived by recruitment, worked out the established by the contract
term.
Tells Konstantin Ponedelnikov:
–
Everything happened on the night of November 4-5. I was still single, well, business
young, came from the street late, at two or three o'clock. Lived then on
apartment, rented a room from a family countryman, also from Kuibyshev.
Just went to bed - what is it? The house shook. The owner yells: get up
quickly, dress up and go outside. He had lived there for several years already, he knew that to
what.
Konstantin ran out of the house and lit a cigarette. The ground was shaking perceptibly
under your feet. And suddenly from the side of the coast there was shooting, shouts, noise.
In the light of the ship's searchlights, people were running from the bay.
"War!" they shouted. So, at least, it seemed to the guy at first.
Later I realized: a wave! Water!!! From the sea towards the hills where she stood
border unit, there were self-propelled guns. And along with everyone else, Konstantin ran after,
up.
From the report of the senior lieutenant of the state security P. Deryabin:
"...Not
we managed to reach the regional department, when we heard a great noise, then
crackling from the sea. Looking back, we saw a great height of water
the rampart advancing from the sea to the island ... I gave the order to open
shooting from personal weapons and shouting: "There is water!", at the same time
retreating to the hills. Hearing noise and screams, people began to run out of apartments in
than they were dressed (most in underwear, barefoot) and run to the hills. "
Konstantin Ponedelnikov:
–
Our way to the hills lay through a ditch three meters wide, where for
the crossing was paved with wooden walkways. Next to me, gasping for breath
a woman was running with a five-year-old boy. I grabbed the child in my arms - and
together with him he jumped over the ditch, from where only the strength came. And mother already
I got over the boards.
On the dais were army
dugouts where the exercises took place. It was there that people settled down to
keep warm - it was November. These dugouts became their refuge for
the next few days.
In place of the former North-Kurilsk... June 1953 of the year
Three waves
After that
as the first wave left, many went down to find the missing
relatives, to release the cattle from the barns. People did not know: the tsunami has
long wavelength, and sometimes tens of
minutes.
From the report of P. Deryabin:
"...About
15–20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a shaft of water again poured
greater strength and magnitude than the first. People thinking that it's already over
(many, heartbroken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property),
descended from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses, so that
keep warm and dress yourself. Water without encountering resistance on its way
... poured onto land, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings.
This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population. "
AND
almost immediately, the third wave carried away almost everything that it could capture into the sea
with myself. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was filled
floating houses, roofs and debris.
Tsunami that later
named after the destroyed city - "tsunami in
Severo-Kurilsk "- was caused by an earthquake in Pacific, 130 km
from the coast of Kamchatka. An hour after a powerful (with a magnitude of about 9
points) earthquake, the first tsunami wave reached Severo-Kurilsk.
The height of the second, the most terrible, wave reached 18 meters. According to the official
According to the data, 2336 people died in Severo-Kurilsk alone.
Samih
Konstantin Ponedelnikov did not see waves. First delivered to the hill
refugees, then with several volunteers they went downstairs and
watches saved people, pulling them out of the water, taking them off the roofs. Real
the scale of the tragedy became clear later.
- I went down to the city ...
We were a watchmaker, a good guy, legless. I look: his stroller. AND
he himself lies next to him, dead. The soldiers put the corpses on the chaise and take away
into the hills, there either in a mass grave, or how else they buried - God
knows. And along the coast there were barracks, a sapper military unit. Escaped
one foreman, he was at home, and the whole company perished. Covered them with a wave. bullpen
stood, there probably were people too. Maternity hospital, hospital ... All died.
From a letter from Arkady Strugatsky to his brother:
"The buildings
were destroyed, the entire coast was littered with logs, fragments of plywood, pieces
hedges, gates and doors. There were two old ships on the pier.
artillery towers, they were put by the Japanese almost at the end
Russian-Japanese War. The tsunami threw them about a hundred meters away. When
dawn, those who managed to escape - men and women descended from the mountains
in linen, shivering with cold and terror. Most residents either
sank, or lay on the shore interspersed with logs and debris. "
Evacuation
the population was carried out promptly. After a short call from Stalin to
Sakhalin Regional Committee, all nearby aircraft and watercraft were
directed to the disaster area.
Constantine among about three hundred
the victims ended up on the Amderma steamer, which was completely choked with fish.
For the people, they unloaded half of the coal hold, threw a tarpaulin.
Across
Korsakov was brought to Primorye, where they lived for some time in a very
difficult conditions. But then the "top" decided that the recruitment contracts
need to be worked out, and sent everyone back to Sakhalin. About some
material compensation was out of the question, it is good if it was possible at least
confirm the experience. Konstantin was lucky: his work supervisor remained
alive and restored work books and passports ...
Fish place
Many destroyed settlements have never been
have been restored. The population of the islands has declined dramatically. Port city
Severo-Kurilsk was rebuilt in a new place, higher. Without carrying out that
the most volcanological examination, so that as a result, the city was in
even more dangerous place- on the way of the mud streams of the Ebeko volcano,
one of the most active in the Kuril Islands.
Port life
Severo-Kurilsk has always been associated with fish. Profitable work, people
they came, lived, left - there was some kind of movement. In the 1970s and 80s in
the sea only loafers did not earn one and a half thousand rubles a month
(an order of magnitude more than in a similar job on the mainland). In the 1990s
caught a crab and took it to Japan. But in the late 2000s, the Federal Agency for Fishery
it was necessary to almost completely ban the king crab fishing.
In order not to disappear at all.
Today versus the late 1950s
the population has decreased threefold. Today in Severo-Kurilsk - or, as
locals say that about 2500 people live in Sevkur. Of them
500 - under the age of 18. The maternity ward of the hospital appears annually
born 30-40 citizens of the country, whose "place of birth" is
Severo-Kurilsk.
The fish processing factory provides
the country with stocks of navaga, flounder and pollock. About half
workers - local. The rest are newcomers ("verbota", recruited).
They earn about 25 thousand a month.
Sell fish
fellow countrymen are not accepted here. Its whole sea, and if you want cod or,
say, halibut, you need to arrive at the port in the evening, where they unload
fishing steamers, and just ask: "Hey, brother, wrap the fish."
O
tourists in Paramushir are still only dreaming. Visitors are accommodated in the "House
fisherman ”- a place only partly heated. True, recently in Sevkur
the thermal power plant was modernized, a new berth was built in the port.
One
the problem is the inaccessibility of Paramushir. More to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
thousands of kilometers, to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - three hundred. Helicopter
flies once a week, and then on condition that the weather will be in "Petrik", and
in Severo-Kurilsk, and on Cape Lopatka, which ends with Kamchatka.
It's good if you wait a couple of days. Or maybe three weeks ...
November 5, 1952 an earthquake occurred 130 km from Cape Shipunsky Peninsula of Kamchatka. The source of the earthquake was at a depth of 20-30 km. The destruction from the earthquake covered the coast for 700 km: from the Kronotsky Peninsula to the northern Kuril Islands. The damage was minor - pipes collapsed, light structures were damaged, the walls of buildings and capital structures cracked.
Much greater destruction and disaster was caused by the tsunami that arose as a result of this earthquake. The height of the rise of water on average reached 6-7 m.
A devastating tsunami approached the eastern shores of Kamchatka and the northern Kuril Islands 15-45 minutes after the earthquake and began with a decrease in sea level.
The most affected by the waves was the city of Severo-Kurilsk, located on the island. Paramushir. The urban area was occupied by a coastal beach 1-5 m high, then the slope of the coastal terrace 10 m high extended. Many buildings were located on it. Some of the buildings were located southwest of the port along the river valley.
According to the estimates of a number of archival sources, 2,336 people died on that tragic night in the Northern Kuriles.
Below are eyewitness accounts and excerpts from documents that adequately describe the dramatic events of 1952. 
A. Ya. Mezis
52nd tragedy
It was from 4 to 5 November ...
Neither in Severo-Kurilsk, nor in our country, in Kozyrevsk, nor at other plants, have they yet issued a salary. Why am I in Kozyrevsk? The chief officer remained on the ship, while the chief officer and I went ashore. I usually received a statement and money there, and then gave it to the guys on the ship, they signed it, and I handed the statement to the accounting department. In general, I came to receive a salary, and at the same time to visit at home - my family lived in Kozyrevsk, and that night it started.
The earthquake was very strong. There were often earthquakes, in general the islands were shaking endlessly, they got used to it and did not pay attention to it, especially if there were only 2-3 points. Those on the shore, of course, always felt them, but we did not feel earthquakes at all in the sea.
So, when the shaking began, many, yes, in fact, almost all people did not know at all that there are such waves on the sea - tsunamis. I read something about them in nautical textbooks. But this is so ... you never know what we read about? There was no true idea about them and what kind of trouble they bring ...
I remember that I jumped out of bed, and the floor pulled out from under my feet, and the alarm clock fell, and the darkness - the light was given from the power plant until 11-12 o'clock. But I had a battery and a light bulb at home. Children are all the same, one very small - you never know what at night? Well, I turned on the light, an alarm clock was under my feet, and the hands on the dial showed ten minutes past three. This is etched into my memory .. And in the house - it was a Japanese long, barrack-type, from eight apartments - noise, shouts.
People jumped out into the street. I looked out the window. What is it? .. I don’t understand. And so, in this turmoil, noise, 10-15 minutes passed. The wife was still sleeping with the kids, then the older one woke up, muttering: "What is this?"
Then I hear people shouting: "Wave! Wave!"
It was the first, low wave that rolled along the shore. She, as I saw later, broke the piers, took down the conveyors from them, along which the fish walked, and washed the lower houses - along the windows. People, of course, were terribly alarmed. They all fled at once - so we didn't have any casualties here.
But further on - there the coast immediately rose steeply upwards of more than 30 meters above sea level - there seemed to be a lot of seething and again shouts: "Wave, wave!" Then it hit me in my head: "Stop! After a strong earthquake, there may be big waves." I told my wife: "You, come on and put the guys on, you see, there is a" wave "screaming." Wife: "Why, does it shake for the first time? Shake it and stop it." I don't have a habit of swearing, but here I fired up, as they say, from the top floor: "Get up! Dress the guys!" And I myself think: they say, as friends there, Kostya Todorov, Sashka Yerushevich are from Odessa. We must run and take a look. They stayed there, closer to the sea.
Well, I left the house. And the night is bright and quiet. The moon is directly over the strait. I ran to their house - intact, only it was noticeable that the water rose up to the windows. And the sand around is so leveled, well, right, as on nice beach... And the piers are broken ...
Then two guys joined me, one was the foreman of a military boat and the second was a fish processor at a cannery. So the three of us went down the coast, and the water in the sea recedes, the bottom is bare. This guy, the fishmonger, said: "Look, the bottom appears, and the sand even where they were anchored - there were no places near the pier." We saw someone's anchor cut off. And the guy grinned: "If the water goes away like that, then we will come to Severo-Kurilsk in an hour." And I said, "Guys, this is a bad omen. It seems that the bottom is bare before the next wave."
Soon our attention was attracted by some kind of hum from the side of the ocean. This hum grew stronger and stronger all the time. We looked towards the ocean, and under the moon there was such a bright strip on the water. Not just a track, but a strip. When we saw her, she was thin. And then she began to get fat. "Guys," I said, "this hum ... the band is a wave rolling, let's get out of here." I remembered at that moment, as in the nautical textbook about these waves is written. And at first we walked away from it - step, step, and it grew with great speed. And the hum grew. Bolt.
We run, and then we see that she is close, it became scary and everything is clear - we are at full speed. Someone's cow ran past us, and then we noticed a path, and along it - up and up. They ran into the hill, it would be necessary to continue, but the strength is gone, my heart was pounding terribly. They paused. We see - the gray mass of the shaft does not seem to roll very quickly, but what a huge! .. And then it hit the plant, partially covered it and, as it were, pushed - all these structures immediately began to float, falling apart on logs and boards, and the water drove them ahead myself. She carried everything, crumbling, chewing on other buildings on its way, and literally in two or three minutes swept along the entire coast. Then the water began to decrease, slide down.
The shore opened. And we stand with bulging eyes and do not believe what we see. There were buildings - nothing. As a janitor with a broom passed and swept everything - the coast was clean.
Then we see, when they looked in the direction of Severo-Kurilsk, - although it’s not a day, you won’t look well, but we saw that the water was pouring out black - these were the debris of the city that filled the bay, and from them there were screams. Heartbreaking screams. We stand and watch. What to do?!
Here, in front of us - a small ravine, a trickle ran along it - so this whole ravine was hammered by the rubble of the plant: boards, logs, beams, iron rods were sticking out. And how are our barracks? How is it? .. To see them, you have to go around, - it is far and scary, and you need to quickly know if your children and your wife are still alive. I climbed through these debris to get to the border post. There, on its territory, I already noticed people - the whole yard was filled; crying, screaming. I ran there, looking for my own.
I looked - my wife was standing. I went up to her, and she was standing and couldn't say anything out of fear - she and the children also saw how this water shaft rolled. Suddenly I see: she is holding the youngest upside down - instead of his head, his heel sticks out of the blanket, and he is silent there. "Turn it over," I said. She turned him over and re-swaddled him.
Above the frontier post there was a house, old people lived in it - we were friends with them. They treated us well. Old man Lukashenko himself is from Ukraine. I said to my wife: "Let's go to Lukashenka." Others went there too, packed into the house. All the women, I see, are terribly frightened, pale, one is shaking, the other is twitching.
I pushed Fedya - he was the captain on the Japanese schooner: "Come on, the barrel is there, you know?" They brought them, treated them, and went to see what the sea had done? .. And it’s already time - by morning, by dawn. And the strait is still full of debris and the cries of people do not stop - they are asking for help ...
The steamer Amderma came, then Krasnogorsk. We anchored. The boats were lowered. Between the wreckage - on boats, they were pushed by the oars. They pulled out some people.
When my seiner approached, I barely climbed onto it; the assistant immediately ran to look for his family. The captain from the twenty-first seiner, the husband of my wife's sister, also climbed over to us. It turned out that his wooden boat was damaged, it sank on the deck, and then it was thrown ashore. We started to run here and there. I don’t know how many people the first mate had pulled out of the water before — he only managed to say that he was saving — and we lifted seventeen people aboard. From the wreckage of former buildings.
In addition, realizing that people need to change clothes and eat, they fished out various bales, boxes - basically they hunted for food and clothing. Near the fireplace, which was heated at full power, the rescued were drying shirts, blankets ... Our cook from flour and egg powder - we also caught this in the water - continuously cooked omelet and cakes.
Soon a snowfall, a blizzard, a stormy wind began. Visibility has decreased. We continue to look for people. We noticed a quilt among the wreckage, so pink and satin. We went up to him, hooked him with a hook - maybe we'll dry it and give it to someone. They pulled it, and under it was a window frame, and the corpse of a child was stuck in it. We didn't take the blanket ...
When they made their way to Severo-Kurilsk, they were afraid that they would run into something that could damage either the side or the propeller. We saw a coastal crane. The crane fell into the sea, and this is the picture: its arrow sticks out of the water with a hook, which is for lifting the load, and a pendant - a rope, and this rope is so bent that the hand of a young guy is clamped in it; he hung with his face to the arrow and, apparently, was banging against it - his face was broken, and he was hanging in shorts and a T-shirt, barefoot. We wanted to get him out. Did not work out.
We went ashore, here on the breakwater too ... why didn't it wash away ... At the very edge lay a dead Korean woman, apparently pregnant - a big belly ... They went away, and then, out of a half-washed gravel and sand pit, an arm and a leg protruded. Horror ...
People, when we said to them: load onto the seiner, first of all, children, women and old people, we will leave, - people walked past the corpses in a chain, recognized their relatives and were silent, stiffened, as if not understanding anything, - the horror so paralyzed their consciousness, that they couldn't even cry. The deck housed - mostly sat - about 50-65 people. And we went to the steamer.
In the morning, several steamers had already appeared in the roadstead and there were ships on their way to us - from the side of the ocean, a total of 10 or more units. These are ours. But the Americans also approached - a warship and merchant ships. They offered their services, but they were refused. Firstly, they do nothing for free, and secondly, they thought that their ships would be quite enough to evacuate people.
And so for four days there was a search for people at sea and their delivery to ships. And on the shore, when for the third or fourth time we entered the bucket for transporting a new batch of victims, the corpses had already been removed, and a not such a terrible picture appeared before the eyes of the people. The people were already more organized, somewhat calmer, some were dressed in what had been thrown from planes, others had gathered bundles with some food. But these, probably, were not residents of Severo-Kurilsk, the most densely populated region, which was swept by a wave for about two-thirds, and its outskirts - the flood did not touch them, but only frightened them. 
What did I see and what did I remember? For example, the ascent to the volcanoes begins, they stand steeply, and in this direction there is a flat area. On it, the Japanese had an airfield - a wooden flooring made of beams for aircraft. Our bars were pulled apart. There was something in the military, lived in houses and a few civilians. The wave has come here already weakened, bought people pretty well, but the dead ... it seems there was not.
And here, behind this toe, there were high rocks, at low tide they walked along the coast in Kataoko (Baikovo), at high tide - only along the upper path. But further on, there were many buildings right on the shore. There were piers, military and fishing small vessels were moored to them. And we came here more than once to refuel with fresh water - and so here many people died.
Here's another place. Also the coast, low. Here, on the ocean side, there were about two battalions of soldiers, as they say, on the border ... And now imagine - night, the time of the deepest sleep. And - a sudden blow of a giant wave. All the barracks and buildings in an instant are broken, the guys are caught up in the water ... And who could be saved, and how long the survivor, undressed, can hold out in the cold water - after all, it is November. On the shore it was difficult even to kindle a fire, to warm up - not everyone succeeded.
I remember that in Korsakov, in the commission that dealt with the accommodation of the victims of the natural disaster, they called the preliminary figure - 10 thousand people. It was believed that so many died. Well, and then they began to speak differently: less than a thousand, and one and a half thousand. When in Severo-Kurilsk alone, much more could have died ... Actually, it is still unknown how many victims actually were in that terrible element.
Now in front of me is a military map (two-page layout), now it is declassified. Here is the Shumshu island, the strait, there is a low coast, people lived on it, here the height is about 30 meters above sea level, then again - downhill, hilly. There was one cannery here, there was another, in the same area there was a store, a radio station, a ship-building shop, and fish store warehouses. And over there was a Kozyrevsky fish factory. And on the mountain - then people called it Dunkin's navel - there was a monitoring and communication service.
And in this direction there was a wave hit. When she went to sea, perhaps, she was 20 meters high, and when she wedged into a narrow place, and even with such a monstrous speed, naturally, she rose up and in some places, perhaps, reached 35 meters in height. I have already said how the plant was demolished before my very eyes. It was the same with others. And with all the buildings that fell under her wild power.
Below were the warehouses of the fish shop. Naturally, they were destroyed, the goods there are different, the manufactory was scattered. Others unwound rolls, can you imagine?
Not without a funny thing. We had one half-naughty girl - Masha, she, then, comes up to the unwound fabric and is going to cut a piece. The soldier says to her: "Why are you touching!" Well, he drove her away, and she came in from the other end, as they say, grabbed a hefty wet piece and dragged her to her ...
In Severo-Kurilsk, the very first wave destroyed a significant part of the buildings and, rolling back, claimed many human lives. And the second shaft, which collapsed in about 20-25 minutes, was of such a huge destructive force that it tore off objects of many tons.
The whole city was carried in a mass of debris together with the people into the strait, then they were carried back and forth, it happened that on the third day people were being removed from the roofs of destroyed houses; these were Japanese wooden houses, solidly made, under the influence of forces they could squint, move, but they fell apart completely slowly, with difficulty.
And in the wind, in the snow, which began soon after the tsunami, the woman was carried on the roof, on the third day we took her off. Naturally, all this time she tried in every possible way to resist, her fingernails were torn off, her elbows and knees were beaten to the bone. And when we filmed her, she kept clinging to this roof. And where is her, how else to help?
A destroyer was stationed nearby. For some reason, naval sailors did not allow civilian ships to approach their board, we still approached it, the officer of the watch waved: "Move away!" I shouted to him that we have a very seriously wounded woman, she must be sent to the infirmary. The senior officer came out, ordered: "Take the mooring lines!" We approached, dropped the mooring lines, and then the sailors with stretchers came running ...
And on the very first morning after this flood, as soon as dawn broke, planes flew in from Petropavlovsk, and those people who managed to climb the hills from the wave, those people were half-dressed, some in what, some wet. Well, they began to throw off warm clothes, blankets, and food. This, of course, helped people a lot.
All night long, bonfires were burning on the hills, people were warming themselves near them, down, where they still lived yesterday, they were afraid to go down. And what if again? .. Moreover, they announced: they say, there may be more waves and even more. Fortunately, there were no new waves.
The only plant that has completely escaped the elements is the one that stood in Shelikhov Bay, on the side of the Sea of Okhotsk, it remained completely unharmed, except that the water wetted it, that's all.
In general, the tragedy was very big, monstrous, you can neither talk nor write about such a casual one. One has only to remember about her again, as more and more people and terrible pictures appear before my eyes.
After all, it was before the holiday - before November 7th. But there, in the Kuril Islands, not as in big cities, preparation for the holiday was almost imperceptible - there people usually prepared for the long winter. Stocked up food. For example, at home I had plywood barrels with egg powder, milk powder. Of course, there was fish. I need the meat, so I went, I took the whole ram carcass. Fruit, too, was never bought in kilograms, usually a box, two, or even more. It was difficult to stock up on vegetables, but they were stocked up, as best they could, from the ships that came to us. But for the holidays, of course, there would be more free time. And there would be a massive booze ... If such a disaster happened on the holidays, there would be much more victims.
Late already, as they say, a lot of time has passed, but it is necessary to both tell and write about that tragedy - in some places there are still eyewitnesses of that element. And I hardly see my acquaintances of that time. In Nevelsk, here lives, if not left, Korbut - the foreman of divers to repair the underwater part of ships. Then in Chekhov - Kost, a Greek, was also an eyewitness to this. Polishchuk - senior assistant, died.
Then how was it covered in print? For example, Moscow newspapers come, and what have we read in them about the misfortune of thousands of people? Yes, almost nothing was said, so, in streamlined colors. Everything, even the grief of people, was under a great ban, everything was hidden, turned into a big secret. And these documents were classified as "Secret".
We, the victims, were officially given aid so that they could travel to the mainland. And many left here, another part left and returned, and most settled in different cities and villages of Sakhalin. Those who quickly left for the mainland did not receive their wages for the last period. I was given my salary only in mid-December. This, and me, and many, probably somehow kept me. They also gave out a lot of clothes, both new and worn.
In Voroshilov (now Ussuriysk), they even treated us with envy, temporarily transferred there: we ate free of charge, they brought us goods, some we bought, others gave us free of charge as material assistance. The local population began to look askance at us: they say, they can't buy anything, but all the new goods are coming to us; we were even taken back and forth on trains for free. Those who returned to Sakhalin were provided with housing. Yes, here's another interesting detail. Our parents on the mainland received letters from us from Voroshilov and immediately wrote themselves: what happened, why did you end up there? That is, on the mainland they had no idea what happened at the end of the earth, in the east.
And the help to the victims at that time was significant - in the range of 3-3.5 thousand rubles. There, in the Kuril Islands, some lived in hostels, they had nothing, except for the clothes that were on them. And here friends gathered in the role of witnesses and let's tell the commission: they say, he had that and that. One, for example, told everyone that on the island he had a leather coat, leather gloves, everything, they say, was swept away into the sea. Well, I got three thousand and actually started walking around in a leather coat, and put on leather gloves with long fingers, and the shoes were unthinkable. They called him a parrot, but he achieved his goal.
But this is so, a trifle. But there, on the land of grief, there was also looting ... For example, when we were already in Voroshilov, we have one from the ocean fish processing plant, too, as expected, received help and began to buy things in stores, but everything is more expensive, and gold and silver ... They paid attention to her, followed what she was buying. Well, of course, they made inquiries: I received three thousand, and bought for all thirty.
And at night in the club of the Sugar Factory, where we were temporarily placed and we put on duty for the night, because there were hmyrs who were not averse to profiting from other people's good, and the fact that people survived the tragedy did not interest them, so suddenly they appeared uncles in sheepskin coats. Who are they? What for? Well, they showed their IDs - the police, then asked us to find attesting witnesses from among those who were still awake, and the head of the club would not interfere here. The woman was then woken up and presented with a search warrant. And they began to fiddle with her things. She, of course: "Shame on you, where are you climbing!". And as the linen was unrolled, as a wad of money appeared, not yet completely dry, so it became quiet. Then, in a suitcase, in its double bottom, they found money. Of course, they began to find out where they got such capital.
And it turned out that she and her husband, when the ocean combine washed away, saw a safe on the shore. They hacked it, and there - the salary of the entire team, which was delivered but did not have time to issue. She and her husband shared this money, and she went to Voroshilov, and he stayed in Vladivostok. Well, they took him there.
And in Vladivostok, at the seaport, I saw a different picture. This is when we got there after the disaster. My wife - with children, her sister - with a child, it was four days since she gave birth, she would have died altogether if we had not persuaded the hospital staff to let her go on the eve of the tsunami - it was cold there. And here we go with the children and the little things that we managed to grab. And the other - with suitcases, one is thicker than the other. Well, just like a huckster from some rich land. And they say to him: "And you go through that door over there." Then, you look, comes out of there with nothing - shaken, and under escort.
So everything was in this tragedy: death, and injury, and madness, and grief, and looting, and profit, and feat, and sympathy, and compassion ...
These are the people. That is life.
***
1. From a special report of the head of the North Kuril police station about a natural disaster - a tsunami that occurred in the North Kuril region on November 5, 1952 (Local history bulletin N 4, 1991 of the Sakhalin Regional Museum of Local Lore and the Sakhalin Branch of the All-Russian Cultural Fund.)
At 4 o'clock in the morning on November 5, 1952, a strong earthquake began in Severo-Kurilsk and the region, which lasted for about 30 minutes, which damaged buildings and destroyed stoves in houses.
Slight hesitations still continued when I went to the district police department to check the damage to the building of the district department and especially the pre-trial detention cell, which held 22 people on November 5 ...
On the way to the regional department, I observed cracks in the ground, 5 to 20 cm wide, formed as a result of an earthquake. Arriving at the regional department, I saw that the building was broken into two halves by the earthquake, the stoves were crumbling, the duty squad ... were in place ...
At that time, there were no more tremors, the weather was very calm ... We did not have time to reach the regional department, when we heard a great noise, then a crackling from the side of the sea. Looking back, we saw a large water wall advancing from the sea onto the island. Since the regional department was at a distance of 150 m from the sea, and the bullpen was about 50 meters from the sea, the bullpen immediately became the first victim of the water ... I gave the order to open fire from my personal weapons and shout: "There is water!" to the hills. Hearing noise and screams, people began to run out of the apartments in what they were wearing (most in underwear, barefoot) and run into the hills.
After about 10-15 minutes, the first wave of water began to descend, and some of the people went to their homes to collect their surviving things.
I with a group of my workers went to the regional department to clarify the situation and rescue the survivor. Approaching the place, we did not find anything, there was a clean place ...
At this time, that is, approximately 15-20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a shaft of water of even greater force and magnitude rushed out again than the first. People, thinking that everything was over (many, heartbroken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property), descended from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses in order to warm themselves and dress themselves. The water, meeting no resistance on its way (the first rampart swept away a significant part of the buildings), rushed to the land with exceptional speed and force, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings. This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population.
The water of the second wave did not have time to leave, when for the third time water gushed out and carried into the sea almost everything that was from the buildings in the city.
For 20-30 minutes (the time of two almost simultaneous waves of enormous strength) in the city there was a terrible noise of boiling water and crumbling buildings. Houses and roofs of houses were thrown like matchboxes and carried into the sea. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was completely filled with floating houses, roofs and other debris.
The escaped people, frightened by what was happening, in panic throwing their things and losing their children, rushed to run higher into the mountains.
After that, the water began to drain and cleaned the island. But insignificant tremors began again and most of the surviving people remained in the hills, fearing to descend. Taking advantage of this, certain groups of the civilian population and military personnel began to rob the houses that remained on the slopes of the hills, smash the safes and other personal and state property scattered throughout the city ...
By order of the commander of the garrison, Major General Duka, Captain Kalinenkov with a group of soldiers took over the security of the State Bank ...
By 10 o'clock in the morning on November 5, 1952, approximately the entire personnel was assembled. It has been established that among the employees of the regional police department there is no passport officer Korobanov V.I. with the child and the secretary-typist L.I. Kovtun. with a child and mother. According to inaccurate information, Korobanov and Kovtun were picked up by a boat on the open sea, put on a steamer and sent to Petropavlovsk. The wives of police officers Osintsev and Galmutdinov were killed. Of the 22 people held in the bullpen, 7 people were saved ...
On November 6, at the party's economic activists, a commission was organized to evacuate the population, supply them with food and clothing ... An order was given to the squad leader Matveyenko to immediately gather the rank and file ... However, most of the personnel left the gathering place without permission and by the evening of November 6 got on the steamer "Uelen" ...
A natural disaster completely destroyed the building of the regional police department, the bullpen, the stable ... The total loss is 222.4 thousand rubles.
All the documentation of the regional department, seals, stamps ... washed away in the sea ... Taking advantage of the natural disaster, the garrison soldiers, having drunk alcohol, brandy and champagne scattered around the city, began to engage in looting ...
In the fish processing plant "Okeansky" on November 5, 1952, after the destruction, a safe was found in which there were 280 thousand rubles belonging to the combine ...
At the fish processing plants Babushkino and Kozyrevskoye, at the time of the natural disaster, servicemen stole a large number of inventory items belonging to fish cooperatives.
On the stated facts, the servicemen informed the command for taking measures.
Senior Lieutenant of State Security P.M. Deryabin
2. Certificate of the Deputy Head of the Sakhalin Regional Police Department on the results of the trip to the area of the natural disaster
On November 6, 1952, by order of the head of the Sakhalin Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Colonel of State Security Comrade Smirnov, together with members of the committee of the regional committee of the CPSU, flew to the North Kuril region. (1)
During his stay in the North Kuril region from November 8 to December 6, 1952, from conversations with the affected population, party-Soviet and scientific workers, as well as as a result of personal observations and study of places subjected to flooding and destruction, he established that on November 5, 1952 At 3 hours 55 minutes, an earthquake of great destructive force occurred on the islands of the Kuril ridge, including Paramushir, Shumshu, Alaid and Onekotan. The reason for the earthquake, as scientists explain, was the constant pressure of the earth's crust to the east. Due to the fact that the bottom of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk consists of solid basalt rock that can withstand this titanic stress, the breakdown occurred in the weakest place (in the structure of the seabed) in the Pacific Ocean, in the so-called Tuskoror depression. At a depth of 7-8 thousand meters, about 200 km east of Paramushir Island, at the time of the giant compression of the depression, a sharp rise of the ocean floor (discharge) occurred, possibly followed by a volcanic eruption, displacing a huge mass of water, which rolled in the form of a wall and to the islands of the Kuril ridge.
As a result of the earthquake, the city of Severo-Kurilsk, the villages of Okeanskoye, Utesnoye, Levashovo, Kamenisty, Galkino, Podgorny, and others were destroyed and demolished by a wave. The earthquake continued with varying strengths several times a day throughout November, December and after. At 1 am on November 16, the Yuzhny volcano began to erupt. At first, strong explosions with flares occurred, and then lava and ash poured from the crater of the volcano, carried by the wind for 30-50 km and covered the earth by 7-8 cm.
Judging by the explanations of eyewitnesses, the earthquake began as follows: on November 5, 1952, at 3:55 am, the inhabitants of Severo-Kurilsk were awakened by strong tremors, accompanied, as it were, by numerous underground explosions, reminiscent of a distant artillery cannonade. Owing to the vibrations of the earth's crust, buildings were deformed, plaster fell from the ceiling and walls, stoves collapsed, wardrobes and shelves fell, swaying dishes, and more stable objects - tables, beds, moved along the floor from wall to wall, just like loose objects on a ship during the storm.
Tremors, sometimes with increasing, sometimes with weakening force, continued for 30 - 35 minutes. Then there was silence. Inhabitants of Severo-Kurilsk, accustomed to the previous periodic fluctuations of the soil, in the first minutes of the earthquake on November 5, believed that it would quickly stop, therefore, fleeing half-naked from the falling objects and destruction, they ran out into the street. The weather that night was warm, only here and there the first snow that fell the day before was preserved. It was an unusually moonlit night.
As soon as the earthquake stopped, the population returned to their apartments to continue sleeping, and individual citizens, in order to prepare for the holiday, immediately began to repair the apartments destroyed by the earthquake, unaware of the impending danger.
At about 5 o'clock in the morning, the people who were on the street heard an unusually formidable and growing noise from the side of the sea, and at the same time - rifle shots in the city. As it turned out later, the workers and the military were shooting, who were among the first to notice the movement of the wave. They paid attention to the strait. At that time, in the strait between the islands of Shumshu and Paramushir, against the background of the moonlight from the side of the ocean, a huge water wall was seen. He suddenly appeared quite clearly, bordered by a wide strip of foam, rapidly approaching the city of Severo-Kurilsk. It seemed to people that the island was sinking. This impression, by the way, was among the population and other settlements that were subjected to flooding. The hope of salvation was determined by only a few tens of seconds. Residents of the city, who are on the street, raised a cry: "Save yourself! The water is coming!" Most of the people in underwear, barefoot, grabbing the children, rushed to the hill. Meanwhile, the wall of water has already collapsed on the coastal structures. The city was filled with the crash of destroyed buildings, heartbreaking screams and screams of drowning people and people running to the hill pursued by the water wall.
The first rampart rolled back into the strait, taking with it many human casualties and a significant part of the coastal buildings. People began to descend from the hills, began to inspect apartments, search for missing relatives. But no more than 20 - 25 minutes passed, when a noise was again heard in the direction of the ocean, which turned into a terrible roar, and an even more formidable water shaft with a height of 10 - 15 meters was again rapidly rolling down the strait. The shaft, with a noise and roar, crashed into the northeastern protrusion of Paramushir island in the area of Severo-Kurilsk and crashed against it, one wave rolled further along the strait in a northwest direction, destroying coastal structures on the Shumshu and Paramushir islands on its way, and the other, describing an arc along the North Kuril lowland in a southeastern direction, collapsed on the city of Severo-Kurilsk, madly rotating in a circle of the depression and with rapid convulsive jerks washing away to the ground all structures and structures located on the ground 10-15 meters above the level seas.
The force of the water shaft in its rapid movement was so enormous that objects small in size but heavy in weight, such as: machines installed on rubble bases, one and a half ton safes, tractors, cars - tore off their places, circled in a whirlpool along with wooden objects, and then scattered over a huge area or carried away into the strait.
As an indicator of the enormous destructive power of the second wave, an example is typical of the State Bank's storeroom, which is a reinforced concrete block weighing 15 tons. It was torn from a 4 square meter rubble foundation and thrown 8 meters away.
Despite the tragedy of this disaster, the absolute majority of the population was not at a loss; moreover, at the most critical moments, many unnamed heroes displayed lofty heroic deeds: risking their lives, they saved children, women, and the elderly.
Here are two girls leading an old woman. Pursued by the approaching wave, they try to run faster towards the hill. The old woman, exhausted, sinks to the ground in exhaustion. She begs the girls to leave her and save herself. But the girls, through the noise and thunder of the approaching elements, shout to her: "We will not leave you anyway, let us all drown together." They pick up the old woman in their arms and try to run, but at that moment the oncoming wave picks them up and throws everyone together on a hill. They are saved.
Loseva's mother and young daughter, fleeing on the roof of their house, were thrown into the strait by a wave. Calling for help, they were noticed by people on the hill. Soon in the same place, not far from the floating Losevs, a little girl was seen on the board, as it turned out later, the three-year-old Svetlana Embankment miraculously escaped, which either disappeared or reappeared on the crest of the wave. From time to time, she tucked her hand back in her brown hair, fluttering in the wind, which indicated that the girl was alive.
The strait at this time was completely filled with floating houses, roofs, various demolished property, and especially fishing gear, interfering with the navigation of boats. The first attempts to break through on boats were unsuccessful - solid blockages prevent us from moving forward, and fishing tackle is wound on propellers. But then a boat separated from the coast of Shumshu Island, which slowly makes its way forward through the rubble. Here he comes to the floating roof, the boat crew quickly removes the Losevs, and then carefully removes Svetlana from the board. The people sitting with bated breath breathed a sigh of relief.
During the run-up to the city of Severo-Kurilsk alone, the population and the command of various floating crafts picked up and rescued more than 15 children lost by their parents, and removed 192 people from roofs and other floating objects in the strait, the Sea of Okhotsk and the ocean.
Many responsible workers, until the last minute, notifying the population about the impending danger, themselves became victims of the disaster. So, the manager of the Severo-Kurilskiy Rybtrest, a member of the district committee of the CPSU, comrade M.S. Alperin, died. (2)
A lot of courage, initiative and resourcefulness were shown in saving people and state property. For example, when the second, more formidable, wave approached the fishing village of Levashovo, fishermen Puzachkov and Zimovin, believing that the island would flood, raised a cry: "Brothers! Save yourself on the kungas!" 18 men, women and children plunged into the kungas, but not having time to take the oars, they were caught by the tide of the wave and carried away into the ocean. Thanks to resourcefulness, replacing the oars with boards, they sailed to the shore on the second day. Comrade Zimovin and Puzachkov, together with their wives, actively participated in the collection of state property ...
Many captains and boat crews took an active part in saving the population and property, and then in transporting the population from the island to ships during significant storms without casualties. At the same time, a number of crew members showed cowardice, leaving the ships to their fate, with the first ships fled to the mainland.
And, if the majority of the population, half-naked, with children in the open sky, pierced by strong wind, rain and snow, courageously and staunchly endured all the hardships, individuals, taking advantage of the natural disaster, appropriated state values, property and hid with the first steamers. Individuals, including some military personnel, were engaged in looting ... Many cases of looting were prevented by the military command, the population itself and the militia bodies ...
As a result of the natural disaster on the site of the city of Severo-Kurilsk, an almost empty area of several square kilometers was formed, and only individual foundations of buildings demolished by a wave, roofs of houses thrown out of the strait, a lonely standing monument to soldiers of the Soviet Army, a rubble frame of a radio station building, central the gates of the former stadium, various state, cooperative and personal property of citizens, scattered over a huge area. The second wave caused especially huge destruction to the city. The third wall of water that followed after 20 - 25 minutes was already less significant in height and strength, did not cause any destruction, and there was nothing to destroy. The third wave threw out fragments of buildings and various property from the strait, which were partially left on the coast of the bay.
According to preliminary data, during the catastrophe, 1,790 civilians died, military personnel: officers - 15 people, soldiers - 169 people, family members - 14 people. Huge damage to the state was inflicted, calculated through the Fishery Consumer Union of more than 85 million rubles. Great damage was inflicted on the Voentorg, the military department, city and communal services and individuals. (3)
Severo-Kurilsk, together with industry, institutions, housing stock, was almost completely destroyed and washed into the sea. The population was about 6,000 people, of which about 1,200 people died. All corpses, with the exception of a few, were washed into the sea. There are still several houses located on a hill, a power plant, part of the fleet and a lot of scattered property, canned food, wine products and clothing. Also preserved is the main warehouse of the Severo-Kuril Fishery Consumer Union and the Military Trade Union, several dozen horses, cows and pigs belonging to no one knows who. 
In the village of Utesny (4), all production facilities and buildings were completely destroyed and washed into the ocean. Only a residential building and a stable remained ... cigarettes, shoes, butter, cereals and other products were scattered with water; 19 heads of cattle, 5 horses, 5 pigs and about 10 tons of hay. There are no human casualties - the population was about 100 people who were completely evacuated.
The village of Levashovo (5) - all enterprises, a store and a fish store warehouse were washed into the ocean. Seven houses and a tent have survived. The population was 57 people, no casualties, all were evacuated. There are 28 heads of cattle, 3 horses and two kungas left.
Settlement Rifovy (6) - no human casualties. All production facilities and premises were destroyed and washed into the ocean. Remained intact - refrigerator equipment, central material warehouse and 41 residential buildings. The fleet was also destroyed, with the exception of 8 kungas and several wrecked boats. 37 heads of cattle, 28 pigs, 46 tons of flour, 10 tons of sugar, 5 tons of butter, 2 tons of alcohol and other inventory items worth 7-8 million rubles were left from the subsidiary farm. The entire population, more than 400 people were evacuated ...
The village of Kamenisty - on the day of the disaster there was no population ... In the village, all production facilities were completely demolished by water. Only one house remained from the housing stock.
Pribrezhny village - all production facilities and premises were destroyed and taken down into the ocean. There are 9 residential buildings left, located on a hill and one warehouse of technical and material property. There are no casualties. The residing population, less than 100 people, has been completely evacuated.
The village of Galkino - no human casualties. The population was less than 100 people who were completely evacuated. Manufacturing plants and living quarters have been destroyed and washed into the ocean.
The village of Okeansky (7) - it housed a fish processing plant, a cannery, a caviar plant with workshops and two refrigerators, mechanical workshops, power plants, a sawmill, a school, a hospital and other government agencies. According to preliminary data, 460 people died from the disaster, 542 people survived who were evacuated. There are 32 residential houses left, more than a hundred heads of cattle, 200 tons of flour in stacks, 8 thousand cans of scattered canned food, 3 thousand cans of milk, 3 tons of butter, 60 tons of cereals, 25 tons of oats, 30 barrels of alcohol and other valuables. All industrial enterprises and housing stock were destroyed and washed away by water into the ocean.
The village of Podgorny (8) - it housed a whale factory. All production facilities, warehouses, as well as almost the entire housing stock were destroyed and washed away by water into the ocean. The population was over 500 people, 97 people survived who were evacuated. In the village, there are 55 residential houses, more than 500 pieces of poultry, 6 ten-ton tanks and on the site of the former warehouse - several dozen sacks of flour and other products.
The village of Baza Boevaya was mothballed before the disaster. The population at the time of the disaster did not live. All factories have been destroyed by water. There are two residential buildings and one tank with a capacity of up to 800 tons left.
Cape Vasiliev - everything has been completely preserved. The civilian population was 12 people.
The village of Major Van - the base of the Shelekhovsky fish processing plant was located there. The village was not damaged. The population was evacuated.
The village of Shelekhovo (9) - a fish processing plant was located there. The population was 805 people, there is no destruction in the village. The population was evacuated. 102 people were left.
The village of Savushkino (10) - it housed a military base with subsidiary farming. There are no casualties, no destruction either.
Kozyrevsky village (11) - there were two fish factories. The population was over 1000 people, 10 people died from the disaster. The rest of the population was evacuated. Both factories were completely destroyed and washed into the sea. On the shore there are many cans of flounder and Kuril salmon scattered with water.
The village of Babushkino (12) - a fish factory was located there. The population was over 500 people, no human casualties. The population was evacuated. A walkie-talkie and two radio operators were left. Industrial enterprises are completely destroyed and washed into the sea. The housing stock was damaged by 30-40%.
The administrative building of the Severo-Kurilskiy district branch of the State Bank was also completely demolished, the documentation was washed out into the sea, but the safes and the storage room of the State Bank, with the exception of one safe, were found not far from the location of the administrative building, in which all valuables worth about 9 million rubles were fully preserved. The values of savings banks have been preserved in the settlements of Shelekhovo, Baikovo and others, only 11 out of 14 savings banks, in the rest the values have been partially lost.
The safes belonging to the Severo-Kurilsk central cash desk were also found; personal accounts of the depositors were not found.
It should be noted that in connection with the sudden evacuation of border guards, in the early days in a number of villages - Shelekhovo, Okeansky, Rifovoy, Galkino and on Alaid Island, there was a panic among the population, as a result of which all state and public property in these points was abandoned fate ...
In the period from November 14 to November 26, the border guards returned back. By this time, in all settlements, an authorized representative of the regional committee of the CPSU, with the help of military units and the remaining civilian population, organized the collection of state, public and personal property, which was transferred under the protection of military units or civilians ...
Upon arrival in Severo-Kurilsk on November 8, 1952, in accordance with the decision of the committee of the regional committee of the CPSU, I organized the collection of state and public property both in Severo-Kurilsk and in a number of other flooded villages. To manage the collection and protection of property, commission and police officers were sent to the villages ...
As a result, for the period from 10 to 20 November 1952, that is, before the snow drifts, ... in Severo-Kurilsk, alcoholic beverages worth 8.75 million rubles were collected and stored in the warehouses of the Fishing Consumer Union, 126 tons of flour, which was delivered to warehouses military units ..., 16 horses, 112 heads of cattle, 33 small heads, 9 heifers, 90 pigs, 32 piglets, 6 sheep. A large number of material values were collected and saved in the villages of Okeansky, Rifovoy, etc.
On November 23, I, together with the members of the committee of the regional committee of the CPSU, comrade Kuskov and the secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU, comrade Orlov, traveled on a seiner to the villages of Rifovoye, Okeanskoye, Shelekhovo, where the necessary measures were taken to strengthen the safety of the remaining property and ensure public order. In other villages, due to a strong storm, it was not necessary to land. By the time of departure, on November 6 ... Comrade Bezrodny (the police officer) was asked ...
Upon arrival of the police officers, send to the following settlements to protect public order: Shelekhovo - 2 people, Rifovoye - 1 person, Okeanskoye - 1 person, Kozyrevskoye - 1 person;
- carefully take into account the entire population of the settlements of the region, including the crew;
- to take an active part in organizing the collection and protection of state values left on the banks, as well as personal property of citizens ...;
- to fight decisively against looting;
- to take measures to clarify the dead during a natural disaster, to ensure the collection of documents of the dead ...
Police Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov
3. From the transcript of the interrogation drawn up at the police station of the city of Severo-Kurilsk
November 20, 1952
I, the deputy head of the police department of the UMGB of the Sakhalin region, police colonel Smirnov, interrogated as a witness Pavel Ivanovich Smolin, born in 1925, a native of the Krasnodar Territory, Kurganinsky district, the village of Rodnikovskaya, non-partisan, Russian, education of 6 classes, married, son of 4 years. Works on logger N 636 as a radio operator (13); lived in the city of Severo-Kurilsk, st. Soviet, barrack N 49, apt. 13; we are not judged; has no documents with him ...
Testimony on the merits of the case:
I have been working on logger N 636, owned by the North Kuril fish processing plant, in the position of a radio operator since May or June 1952, and only in the North Kuril Islands I have been working in the fishing industry since 1950. On the night of November 5, 1952, I, together with other fishermen, were at sea on a logger (fishing), more precisely, we were in a bucket. At about 4 o'clock in the morning, a great shudder of the ship was felt on the logger. Me and other fishermen understood it as an earthquake ... On the night of November 5th ... there was a storm warning of 6-7 points. After the earthquake, our logger under the command of Captain Lymar went out to sea first. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning.
Walking along the Second Strait in the area of Banjovsky Cape, our logger was covered by the first wave several meters high. While in the cockpit, I felt that our ship was, as it were, lowered into a hole, and then thrown high up. A second wave followed a few minutes later, and the same thing repeated. Then the ship went quietly, and no throws were felt. The ship was at sea all day. Only at about 6 pm some military radio station transmitted to us: "Immediately return to Severo-Kurilsk. We are waiting at the apparatus. Alperin." I immediately reported to the captain, who immediately answered: "Immediately I am returning to Severo-Kurilsk." By that time, on board we had up to 70 centners of fish caught per day. Loger headed for Severo-Kurilsk.
On the way back, I contacted logger N 399 by radio, asking the radio operator: "What happened to Severo-Kurilsk?" The radio operator Pokhodenko answered me: "Go to save people ... after the earthquake, the wave washed away Severo-Kurilsk. We are standing under the side of the steamer, the steering is out of order, the propeller is bent." My attempts to contact Severo-Kurilsk were unsuccessful - he was silent. I contacted Shelekhov by radio. The radio operator answered me: "There was a drain earthquake in Severo-Kurilsk, maybe something happened." I answered him that we left at the time of the earthquake, and everything was in order there. This ended the conversation.
Even in the Sea of Okhotsk, before reaching the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu, the logger's team, including myself, saw the roofs of houses, logs, boxes, barrels, beds, doors floating towards them. By order of the captain, the team was deployed on the deck on both sides of the sides and on the bow in order to rescue people who were at sea. But none of the people were found. Throughout the 5-6 miles journey, we saw the same picture: floating barrels, boxes, etc. dense mass.
Entering the Second Strait, four boats came to meet us. Two military boats followed them. From the latter, some signals were given: apparently, with the aim of stopping the boats in front. But they continued to follow.
Arriving on the raid, our logger approached logger N 399 ... whose captain asked our captain not to leave them ... We replied that we would not drop and anchored. There was no connection with the coast. The time was about 2-3 a.m. on November 6, 1952. They were waiting for dawn. Lights were burning on the hills opposite Severo-Kurilsk. We believed that people were saving themselves on the hills, there were many bonfires. As dawn began, others and I discovered that the city of Severo-Kurilsk had been washed away.
At about 8 o'clock in the morning, I and the other sailors, under the command of the third mate, Comrade Kryvchik, sailed in a boat to the cannery and then disembarked. People, including the military, walked in the place of the city - they collected the corpses ... Having examined the place where the barrack in which I lived was located, I did not find any signs (of it) ... I did not find any things that belonged to me - everything was demolished. In my apartment I had clothes, a sewing machine, a passbook with a deposit of 15 thousand rubles, a military ID, seven medals ...
My family - wife, Smolina Anna Nikiforova, son, Alexander, four years old, on November 6, 1953 arrived in a refrigerator from Vladivostok. She was on vacation and went to fetch her son in the Krasnodar Territory, home ... I found her in a refrigerator on November 8. Now his wife and son are on board logger N 636, they work as a cook.
After I did not find the hut in which I lived, I went by boat to my logger, taking on board people from the shore, including women and children. The logger team continued to transport people on board.
On November 7 or 8, we received a radiogram: "Transfer all people taken on board, from among those in distress, to a steamer," so we passed all of them to steamers whose names I do not remember. The evacuation of the civilian population was completed on November 9, and more people did not come to us.
Among the members of the crew of logger N 636, they found their families who had escaped on the hills in Severo-Kurilsk, captain Lymar - his wife, senior mechanic Filippov - his wife and daughter, second mate of captain Nevzorov - his wife; the third assistant mechanic Ivanov found a wife and four children; got on a steamer and left. The first assistant to the mechanic, Petrov, found his wife and son and also left on the steamer. The rest of the family members live on the ship. In addition to the indicated persons, who left the vessel without permission, the boatswain, trawlmaster and trawler's assistant disappeared ... the third mate has not yet returned on board. As a result, only 15 people remained from the logger's team ...
Smolin (signature)
Beached by the tsunami in 1952, a whaling ship.
Severo-Kurilsk today
Monument to the victims of the 1952 tsunami. (Severo-Kurilsk)
NOTES:
1. A group of responsible workers headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Sakhalin Regional Executive Committee GF Korolev went to the scene of the disaster from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Skopinov.
2. Alperin Mikhail Semenovich (1900-1952) - was born in Odessa in a working class family. He worked in executive positions in the fishing industry of the Far East and Sakhalin. A talented organizer, he devoted a lot of effort to the establishment of a fish factory and factories in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. On May 7, 1952, he was appointed manager of the Severo-Kuril State Fishery Trust. He died on November 5, 1952 while saving people and state property during the tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk. Buried on November 7. The grave of M.S. Alperina is a historical and cultural monument of the Sakhalin region.
3. The issue of casualties and other consequences of the disaster requires further study. As a result of the disaster on the islands of the Severo-Kuril region, all enterprises of the fishing industry, warehouses of food and material values, almost all institutions, cultural and household enterprises and almost 70% of the housing stock were destroyed and washed into the sea. Only the Shelekhovsky fish processing plant with its bases along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, where the wave height was no more than 5 meters, remained unharmed.
4. The village of Utesny was located 7 km from the city of Severo-Kurilsk. Excluded from credentials as locality by the decision of the regional executive committee N 228 of July 14, 1964 No.
5. The Levashovo fishery was located at the exit from the Second Kuril Strait. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 502 of December 29, 1962.
6. Settlement Rifovoe, the center of the village council of the same name. Was in Rifovaya Bay. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement in 1962. The Reef Fish Processing Plant had branches in the villages of Pribrezhny and Kamenisty.
7. The Okeansky settlement was the center of the village council of the same name. Here was the central base of the fish processing plant with branches in the villages of Galkino and Boevaya. Localities removed from records in 1962.
8. The settlement of Podgorny was excluded from the registration data by the decision of the regional executive committee N 161 of April 10, 1973.
9. The village of Shelekhovo was the center of the village council of the same name. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 228 of July 14, 1964.
10. The village of Savushkino was located within the city of Severo-Kurilsk. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 161 of April 10, 1973.
11. The village of Kozyrevsky was the center of the village council of the same name. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 223 of July 24, 1985.
12. The village of Babushkino was the center of the village council of the same name. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 161 of April 10, 1973.
13. Loger - SRT type fishing vessel.
14. With the onset of dawn on November 5, reconnaissance aircraft from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky appeared over the islands, which examined the area and took photographs. Following the scouts, warm clothes, tents and food for the affected population fleeing around the fires were dropped from the planes throughout the day. From the very dawn, the planes began to land at the airfield of Shumshu Island and take patients to Kamchatka. At the same time, the surviving boats of the Severo-Kurilsk State Fisheries Trust went into the strait to rescue people carried away at sea. From military warehouses, food and warm clothes were distributed to the population, the patients were placed in a hospital.
15. The evacuation of the affected population of the North Kuril region began on November 6, 1952. Steamships from Petropavlovsk and Vladivostok began to arrive in the Second Kuril Strait. There were 40 vessels of different carrying capacity under loading. Until November 11, the entire population was evacuated. Most of them soon returned via Korsakov and Kholmsk to work in the Sakhalin Oblast.
© Local history bulletin No. 4, 1991
Afterword.
Many destroyed villages and border outposts were never rebuilt. The population of the islands has declined dramatically. Severo-Kurilsk was rebuilt, moved it away from the ocean, as far as the relief allowed. As a result, he found himself in an even more dangerous place - on the mudflow cone of the Ebeko volcano, one of the most active in the Kuril Islands. The population of the city today is about 3 thousand people. The catastrophe initiated the creation of a tsunami warning service in the USSR, which is now in a sad state due to beggarly funding. Against this background, the statements of the Russian authorities look ridiculous that, having such a service, we are insured against a catastrophe similar to the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. At this stage, our main “insurance” is the almost complete absence of settlements on the Pacific coast of the country.
In the fall of 1952, the eastern coast of Kamchatka, the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu were on the first line of the disaster. The North Kuril tsunami of 1952 became one of the five largest in the history of the twentieth century.
Tsunami in Kamchatka, 1952
Tsunami in Kamchatka, 1952
The city of Severo-Kurilsk was destroyed. The Kuril and Kamchatka villages of Utesny, Levashovo, Rifovy, Kamenisty, Pribrezhny, Galkino, Okeansky, Podgorny, Major Van, Shelekhovo, Savushkino, Kozyrevsky, Babushkino, Baikovo were swept away ...
In the fall of 1952, the country lived an ordinary life. The Soviet press, Pravda and Izvestia, did not get a single line: neither about the tsunami in the Kuril Islands, nor about the thousands of people killed.
A picture of what happened can be restored from the recollections of eyewitnesses, rare photographs.
Tsunami in Kamchatka, 1952
The writer Arkady Strugatsky, who served as a military translator in the Kuril Islands in those years, took part in eliminating the consequences of the tsunami. I wrote to my brother in Leningrad:
“... I was on the island of Syumushu (or Shumshu - look at the southern tip of Kamchatka). What I saw, did and experienced there - I can’t write yet. I can only say that I visited the area where the disaster, which I wrote to you about, made itself felt especially strongly.
Tsunami in Kamchatka, 1952
The black island of Shumushu, the island of the wind of Shumushu, the ocean hits the rocks-walls of Shumushu with a wave. The one who was on Shumushu, was that night on Shumushu, remembers how the ocean went to the attack on Shumushu; As on the piers of Shumushu, and on the pillboxes of Shumushu, and on the roofs of Shumushu, the ocean collapsed with a roar; As in the hollows of Shumushu, and in the trenches of Shumushu - in the bare hills of Shumushu, the ocean raged. And in the morning, Shyumushu, to the walls-rocks Shyumushu many corpses, Shyumushu, brought the Pacific Ocean. Shumushu Black Island, Shumushu Island of Fear. Those who live on Shumushu look at the ocean.
I wove these verses under the impression of what I had seen and heard. I don't know how from the literary point of view, but from the point of view of facts - everything is correct ... "
War!
In those years, the work on the registration of residents in Severo-Kurilsk was not really established. Seasonal workers, classified military units, whose composition was not disclosed. According to the official report, in 1952 about 6,000 people lived in Severo-Kurilsk.
82-year-old South Sakhalin resident Konstantin Ponedelnikov in 1951 went with his comrades to the Kuril Islands, to earn extra money. They built houses, plastered walls, helped to install reinforced concrete salting vats at the fish processing plant. In those years, there were many newcomers in the Far East: they arrived by recruitment, fulfilled the deadline established by the contract.
Tsunami in Kamchatka, 1952
By Konstantin Ponedelnikov:
- Everything happened on the night of November 4-5. I was still single, well, a young business, I came from the street late, at two or three o'clock. Then he lived in an apartment, rented a room from a family countryman, also from Kuibyshev. Just went to bed - what is it? The house shook. The owner shouts: get up quickly, get dressed - and go outside. He had lived there for several years already, he knew what was what.
Konstantin ran out of the house and lit a cigarette. The ground trembled perceptibly underfoot. And suddenly from the side of the coast there was shooting, shouts, noise. In the light of the ship's searchlights, people were running from the bay. "War!" they shouted. So, at least, it seemed to the guy at first. Later I realized: a wave! Water!!! Self-propelled guns went from the sea in the direction of the hills, where the border unit stood. And along with everyone else, Konstantin ran after him, upstairs.
From the report of the senior lieutenant of the state security P. Deryabin:
“… We did not have time to reach the regional department when we heard a loud noise, then a crackling sound from the side of the sea. Looking back, we saw a large water wall advancing from the sea to the island ... I gave the order to fire from my personal weapons and shout: "There is water!", While retreating to the hills. Hearing noise and screams, people began to run out of the apartments in what they were dressed (most in underwear, barefoot) and run into the hills. "
Konstantin Ponedelnikov:
- Our way to the hills lay through a ditch three meters wide, where wooden bridges were laid for the passage. Beside me, panting, a woman ran with a five-year-old boy. I grabbed the child in an armful - and with him jumped over the ditch, from where only the strength came. And the mother had already moved over the boards.
On the dais were army dugouts, where the exercises took place. It was there that people settled down to keep warm - it was November. These dugouts became their refuge for the next few days.
On the site of the former Severo-Kurilsk. June 1953
Three waves
After the first wave left, many went downstairs to find the missing relatives, to release the cattle from the barns. People did not know: a tsunami has a long wavelength, and sometimes tens of minutes pass between the first and second.
From the report of P. Deryabin:
“… Approximately 15–20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a wave of water of even greater force and magnitude rushed out again than the first. People, thinking that everything was over (many, heartbroken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property), descended from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses in order to warm themselves and dress themselves. Water, not meeting any resistance on its way ... rushed to the land, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings. This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population. "
And almost immediately, the third wave carried away almost everything that it could take with it into the sea. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was filled with floating houses, roofs and debris.
The tsunami, which was later named after the destroyed city - "tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk" - was caused by an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, 130 km off the coast of Kamchatka. An hour after a powerful (with a magnitude of about 9 points) earthquake, the first tsunami wave reached Severo-Kurilsk. The height of the second, the most terrible, wave reached 18 meters. According to official figures, 2,336 people died in Severo-Kurilsk alone.
Konstantin Ponedelnikov did not see the waves themselves. First, he delivered refugees to the hill, then with several volunteers they went down and saved people for long hours, pulling them out of the water, taking them off the roofs. The real scale of the tragedy became clear later.
- I went down to the city ... We had a watchmaker there, a good guy, legless. I look: his stroller. And he himself lies next to him, dead. The soldiers put the corpses on a chaise and take them to the hills, there either to a mass grave, or how else they buried - God knows. And along the coast there were barracks, a sapper military unit. One foreman escaped, he was at home, and the whole company perished. Covered them with a wave. The bullpen was standing, and there were probably people there. Maternity hospital, hospital ... All died.
From a letter from Arkady Strugatsky to his brother:
“The buildings were destroyed, the entire shore was littered with logs, pieces of plywood, pieces of hedges, gates and doors. On the pier were two old naval artillery towers, they were installed by the Japanese almost at the end of the Russo-Japanese War. The tsunami threw them about a hundred meters away. When dawn broke, those who had escaped descended from the mountains - men and women in underwear, trembling with cold and terror. Most of the inhabitants either sunk or lay on the shore, interspersed with logs and debris. "
The evacuation of the population was carried out promptly. After Stalin's short call to the Sakhalin Regional Committee, all nearby planes and watercraft were sent to the disaster area.
Konstantin, among about three hundred victims, ended up on the Amderma steamer, which was completely choked with fish. For the people, they unloaded half of the coal hold, threw a tarpaulin.
Through Korsakov they were brought to Primorye, where they lived for some time in very difficult conditions. But then the “upstairs” decided that the recruitment contracts needed to be worked out, and they sent everyone back to Sakhalin. There was no question of any material compensation, it is good if it was possible at least to confirm the length of service. Konstantin was lucky: his work supervisor survived and restored work books and passports ...
Fish place
Many destroyed settlements were never rebuilt. The population of the islands has declined dramatically. The port city of Severo-Kurilsk was rebuilt in a new place, higher. Without carrying out that very volcanological examination, so that as a result the city found itself in an even more dangerous place - on the way of mud flows of the Ebeko volcano, one of the most active in the Kuril Islands.
The life of the port Severo-Kurilsk has always been associated with fish. The work was profitable, people came, lived, left - there was some kind of movement. In the 1970s and 1980s, only loafers at sea did not earn 1,500 rubles a month (an order of magnitude more than in a similar job on the mainland). In the 1990s, crab was caught and taken to Japan. But in the late 2000s, the Federal Agency for Fishery had to almost completely ban the Kamchatka crab fishing. In order not to disappear at all.
Today, compared with the late 1950s, the population has declined by three times. Today, about 2,500 people live in Severo-Kurilsk - or, as the locals say, Sevkur. Of these, 500 are under the age of 18. In the maternity ward of the hospital, 30-40 citizens of the country are born annually, whose place of birth is “Severo-Kurilsk”.
The fish processing factory provides the country with stocks of navaga, flounder and pollock. About half of the workers are local. The rest are newcomers ("verbota", recruited). They earn about 25 thousand a month.
It is not customary to sell fish to fellow countrymen. There is a whole sea of it, and if you want cod or, say, halibut, you need to come to the port in the evening, where the fishing ships are unloaded, and just ask: "Hey, brother, wrap up the fish."
They only dream of tourists in Paramushir. Visitors are accommodated in the "Fisherman's House" - a place that is only partially heated. True, recently a thermal power plant was modernized in Sevkur, a new berth was built in the port.
One problem is the inaccessibility of Paramushir. There are more than a thousand kilometers to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, three hundred kilometers to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The helicopter flies once a week, and then on condition that the weather will be in Petrika, and in Severo-Kurilsk, and on Cape Lopatka, where Kamchatka ends. It's good if you wait a couple of days. Or maybe three weeks ...
In Severo-Kurilsk, the expression "live like on a volcano" can be used without quotation marks. There are 23 volcanoes on Paramushir Island, five of them are active. Ebeko, located seven kilometers from the city, comes to life from time to time and releases volcanic gases.
In calm weather and with a westerly wind, they reach Severo-Kurilsk - it is impossible not to feel the smell of hydrogen sulfide and chlorine. Usually, in such cases, the Sakhalin Hydrometeorological Center sends a storm warning about air pollution: toxic gases are easy to poison. The eruptions on Paramushir in 1859 and 1934 caused massive poisoning of people and the death of domestic animals. Therefore, volcanologists in such cases urge residents of the city to use masks for breathing protection and filters for water purification.
The site for the construction of Severo-Kurilsk was chosen without conducting a volcanological examination. Then, in the 1950s, the main thing was to build a city not lower than 30 meters above sea level. After the tragedy of 1952, the water seemed more terrible than fire.
In the fall of 1952, the country lived an ordinary life. The Soviet press, Pravda and Izvestia, did not get a single line: neither about the tsunami in the Kuril Islands, nor about the thousands of people who died. The picture of what happened can be restored only from the recollections of eyewitnesses, and rare photographs.
Classified tsunami
The tsunami wave after the earthquake in Japan reached the Kuril Islands. Low, one and a half meter. And in the fall of 1952, the eastern coast of Kamchatka, the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu were on the first line of the disaster. The North Kuril tsunami of 1952 became one of the five largest in the history of the twentieth century.
The city of Severo-Kurilsk was destroyed. The Kuril and Kamchatka villages of Utesny, Levashovo, Rifovy, Kamenisty, Pribrezhny, Galkino, Okeansky, Podgorny, Major Van, Shelekhovo, Savushkino, Kozyrevsky, Babushkino, Baikovo were swept away ...
The writer Arkady Strugatsky, who served as a military translator in the Kuril Islands in those years, took part in eliminating the consequences of the tsunami. From a letter to his brother in Leningrad:
"... I was on the island of Syumushu (or Shumshu - look at the southern tip of Kamchatka). What I saw, did and experienced there - I cannot write yet. I will only say that I visited the area where the disaster I wrote to you about , made itself felt especially strongly.
The black island of Shumushu, the island of the wind of Shumushu, the ocean hits the rocks-walls of Shumushu with a wave.
The one who was on Shumushu, was that night on Shumushu, remembers how the ocean went to the attack on Shumushu;
As on the piers of Shumushu, and on the pillboxes of Shumushu, and on the roofs of Shumushu, the ocean collapsed with a roar;
As in the hollows of Shumushu, and in the trenches of Shumushu - in the bare hills of Shumushu, the ocean raged.
And in the morning, Shyumushu, to the walls-rocks Shyumushu many corpses, Shumushu, brought the Pacific Ocean.
Shumushu Black Island, Shumushu Island of Fear. Those who live on Shumushu look at the ocean.
I wove these verses under the impression of what I had seen and heard. I don't know how from the literary point of view, but from the point of view of facts - everything is correct ... "
In those years, the work on the registration of residents in Severo-Kurilsk was not really established. Seasonal workers, classified military units, whose composition was not disclosed. According to the official report, in 1952 about six thousand people lived in Severo-Kurilsk.
82-year-old South Sakhalin resident Konstantin Ponedelnikov in 1951 went with his comrades to the Kuril Islands, to earn extra money. They built houses, plastered walls, helped to install reinforced concrete salting vats at the fish processing plant. In those years, there were many newcomers in the Far East: they arrived by recruitment, fulfilled the deadline established by the contract.
Everything happened on the night of November 4-5. I was still single, well, a young business, I came from the street late, at two or three o'clock. Then he lived in an apartment, rented a room from a family countryman, also from Kuibyshev. Just went to bed - what is it? The house shook. The owner shouts: get up quickly, get dressed - and go outside. He had lived there for several years already, he knew what was what, - says Konstantin Ponedelnikov.
Konstantin ran out of the house and lit a cigarette. The ground trembled perceptibly underfoot. And suddenly from the side of the coast there was shooting, shouts, noise. In the light of the ship's searchlights, people were running from the bay. "War!" they shouted. So, at least, it seemed to the guy at first. Later I realized: a wave! Water!!! Self-propelled guns went from the sea in the direction of the hills, where the border unit stood. And along with everyone else, Konstantin ran after him, upstairs.
From the report of the senior lieutenant of the state security P. Deryabin:
"... We did not have time to reach the regional department, when we heard a great noise, then a crackling from the sea. Looking back, we saw a high water shaft advancing from the sea to the island ... I gave the order to open fire from my personal weapons and shout : "There is water!", While retreating to the hills. Hearing noise and shouts, people began to run out of the apartments in what they were wearing (most in underwear, barefoot) and run into the hills. "
- Our way to the hills lay through a ditch three meters wide, where wooden bridges were laid for the passage. Beside me, panting, a woman ran with a five-year-old boy. I grabbed the child in an armful - and with him jumped over the ditch, from where only the strength came. And the mother has already moved over the boards, - said Konstantin Ponedelnikov.
On the dais were army dugouts, where the exercises took place. It was there that people settled down to keep warm - it was November. These dugouts became their refuge for the next few days.
Three waves
After the first wave left, many went downstairs to find the missing relatives, to release the cattle from the barns. People did not know: a tsunami has a long wavelength, and sometimes tens of minutes pass between the first and second.
From the report of P. Deryabin:
“... Approximately 15–20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a wave of water of even greater strength and magnitude than the first rushed again. People, thinking that everything was over (many, heartbroken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property), descended from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses in order to warm themselves and clothe themselves. Water, meeting no resistance on its way ... poured onto the land, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings. This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population. "
And almost immediately, the third wave carried away almost everything that it could take with it into the sea. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was filled with floating houses, roofs and debris.
The tsunami, which was later named after the destroyed city - "the tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk" - was caused by an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, 130 km off the coast of Kamchatka. An hour after a powerful (with a magnitude of about 9 points) earthquake, the first tsunami wave reached Severo-Kurilsk. The height of the second, the most terrible, wave reached 18 meters. According to official figures, 2,336 people died in Severo-Kurilsk alone.
Konstantin Ponedelnikov did not see the waves themselves. First, he delivered refugees to the hill, then with several volunteers they went downstairs and for long hours rescued people, pulling them out of the water, taking them off the roofs. The real scale of the tragedy became clear later.
- I went down to the city ... We had a watchmaker there, a good guy, legless. I look: his stroller. And he himself lies next to him, dead. The soldiers put the corpses on a chaise and take them to the hills, there either to a mass grave, or how else they buried - God knows. And along the coast there were barracks, a sapper military unit. One foreman escaped, he was at home, and the whole company perished. Covered them with a wave. The bullpen was standing, and there were probably people there. Maternity hospital, hospital ... All died, - recalls Konstantin.
From a letter from Arkady Strugatsky to his brother:
"The buildings were destroyed, the entire coast was littered with logs, pieces of plywood, pieces of hedges, gates and doors. On the pier there were two old ship artillery towers, they were erected by the Japanese almost at the end of the Russo-Japanese War. The tsunami threw them about a hundred meters away. dawn, those who managed to escape descended from the mountains - men and women in underwear, trembling with cold and horror. Most of the inhabitants either sank or lay on the shore interspersed with logs and debris. "
The evacuation of the population was carried out promptly. After Stalin's short call to the Sakhalin Regional Committee, all nearby planes and watercraft were sent to the disaster area. Konstantin, among about three hundred victims, ended up on the Amderma steamer, which was completely choked with fish. For the people, they unloaded half of the coal hold, threw a tarpaulin.
Through Korsakov they were brought to Primorye, where they lived for some time in very difficult conditions. But then the "top" decided that the recruitment contracts needed to be worked out, and sent everyone back to Sakhalin. There was no question of any material compensation, it is good if it was possible at least to confirm the length of service. Konstantin was lucky: his work supervisor survived and restored work books and passports ...
This day in history:
On November 5, 1952, an earthquake occurred 130 km from Cape Shipunsky Peninsula of Kamchatka. The source of the earthquake was at a depth of 20-30 km. The destruction from the earthquake covered the coast for 700 km: from the Kronotsky Peninsula to the northern Kuril Islands. The damage was minor - pipes collapsed, light structures were damaged, the walls of buildings and capital structures cracked.
Much greater destruction and disaster was caused by the tsunami that arose as a result of this earthquake. The height of the rise of water on average reached 6-7 m.
A devastating tsunami approached the eastern shores of Kamchatka and the northern Kuril Islands 15-45 minutes after the earthquake and began with a decrease in sea level.
The most affected by the waves was the city of Severo-Kurilsk, located on the island. Paramushir. The urban area was occupied by a coastal beach 1-5 m high, then the slope of the coastal terrace 10 m high extended. Many buildings were located on it. Some of the buildings were located southwest of the port along the river valley.
According to the estimates of a number of archival sources, 2,336 people died on that tragic night in the Northern Kuriles.
Below are eyewitness accounts and excerpts from documents that adequately describe the dramatic events of 1952.
A. Ya. Mezis
52nd tragedy
Neither in Severo-Kurilsk, nor in our country, in Kozyrevsk, nor at other plants, have they yet issued a salary. Why am I in Kozyrevsk? The chief officer remained on the ship, while the chief officer and I went ashore. I usually received a statement and money there, and then gave it to the guys on the ship, they signed it, and I handed the statement to the accounting department. In general, I came to receive a salary, and at the same time to visit at home - my family lived in Kozyrevsk, and that night it started.
The earthquake was very strong. There were often earthquakes, in general the islands were shaking endlessly, they got used to it and did not pay attention to it, especially if there were only 2-3 points. Those on the shore, of course, always felt them, but we did not feel earthquakes at all in the sea.
So, when the shaking began, many, yes, in fact, almost all people did not know at all that there are such waves on the sea - tsunamis. I read something about them in nautical textbooks. But this is so ... you never know what we read about? There was no true idea about them and what kind of trouble they bring ...
I remember that I jumped out of bed, and the floor pulled out from under my feet, and the alarm clock fell, and the darkness - the light was given from the power plant until 11-12 o'clock. But I had a battery and a light bulb at home. Children are all the same, one very small - you never know what at night? Well, I turned on the light, an alarm clock was under my feet, and the hands on the dial showed ten minutes past three. This is etched into my memory .. And in the house - it was a Japanese long, barrack-type, from eight apartments - noise, shouts.
People jumped out into the street. I looked out the window. What is it? .. I don’t understand. And so, in this turmoil, noise, 10-15 minutes passed. The wife was still sleeping with the kids, then the older one woke up, muttering: "What is this?"
Then I hear people shouting: "Wave! Wave!"
It was the first, low wave that rolled along the shore. She, as I saw later, broke the piers, took down the conveyors from them, along which the fish walked, and washed the lower houses - along the windows. People, of course, were terribly alarmed. They all fled at once - so we didn't have any casualties here.
But further on - there the coast immediately rose steeply upwards of more than 30 meters above sea level - there seemed to be a lot of seething and again shouts: "Wave, wave!" Then it hit me in my head: "Stop! After a strong earthquake, there may be big waves." I told my wife: "You, come on and put the guys on, you see, there is a" wave "screaming." Wife: "Why, does it shake for the first time? Shake it and stop it." I don't have a habit of swearing, but here I fired up, as they say, from the top floor: "Get up! Dress the guys!" And I myself think: they say, as friends there, Kostya Todorov, Sashka Yerushevich are from Odessa. We must run and take a look. They stayed there, closer to the sea.
Well, I left the house. And the night is bright and quiet. The moon is directly over the strait. I ran to their house - intact, only it was noticeable that the water rose up to the windows. And the sand around is so leveled, well, right, like on a good beach. And the piers are broken ...
Then two guys joined me, one was the foreman of a military boat and the second was a fish processor at a cannery. So the three of us went down the coast, and the water in the sea recedes, the bottom is bare. This guy, the fishmonger, said: "Look, the bottom appears, and the sand even where they were anchored - there were no places near the pier." We saw someone's anchor cut off. And the guy grinned: "If the water goes away like that, then we will come to Severo-Kurilsk in an hour." And I said, "Guys, this is a bad omen. It seems that the bottom is bare before the next wave."
Soon our attention was attracted by some kind of hum from the side of the ocean. This hum grew stronger and stronger all the time. We looked towards the ocean, and under the moon there was such a bright strip on the water. Not just a track, but a strip. When we saw her, she was thin. And then she began to get fat. "Guys," I said, "this hum ... the band is a wave rolling, let's get out of here." I remembered at that moment, as in the nautical textbook about these waves is written. And at first we walked away from it - step, step, and it grew with great speed. And the hum grew. Bolt.
We run, and then we see that she is close, it became scary and everything is clear - we are at full speed. Someone's cow ran past us, and then we noticed a path, and along it - up and up. They ran into the hill, it would be necessary to continue, but the strength is gone, my heart was pounding terribly. They paused. We see - the gray mass of the shaft does not seem to roll very quickly, but what a huge! .. And then it hit the plant, partially covered it and, as it were, pushed - all these structures immediately began to float, falling apart on logs and boards, and the water drove them ahead myself. She carried everything, crumbling, chewing on other buildings on its way, and literally in two or three minutes swept along the entire coast. Then the water began to decrease, slide down.
The shore opened. And we stand with bulging eyes and do not believe what we see. There were buildings - nothing. As a janitor with a broom passed and swept everything - the coast was clean.
Then we see, when they looked in the direction of Severo-Kurilsk, - although it’s not a day, you won’t look well, but we saw that the water was pouring out black - these were the debris of the city that filled the bay, and from them there were screams. Heartbreaking screams. We stand and watch. What to do?!
Here, in front of us - a small ravine, a trickle ran along it - so this whole ravine was hammered by the rubble of the plant: boards, logs, beams, iron rods were sticking out. And how are our barracks? How is it? .. To see them, you have to go around, - it is far and scary, and you need to quickly know if your children and your wife are still alive. I climbed through these debris to get to the border post. There, on its territory, I already noticed people - the whole yard was filled; crying, screaming. I ran there, looking for my own.
I looked - my wife was standing. I went up to her, and she was standing and couldn't say anything out of fear - she and the children also saw how this water shaft rolled. Suddenly I see: she is holding the youngest upside down - instead of his head, his heel sticks out of the blanket, and he is silent there. "Turn it over," I said. She turned him over and re-swaddled him.
Above the frontier post there was a house, old people lived in it - we were friends with them. They treated us well. Old man Lukashenko himself is from Ukraine. I said to my wife: "Let's go to Lukashenka." Others went there too, packed into the house. All the women, I see, are terribly frightened, pale, one is shaking, the other is twitching.
I pushed Fedya - he was the captain on the Japanese schooner: "Come on, the barrel is there, you know?" They brought them, treated them, and went to see what the sea had done? .. And it’s already time - by morning, by dawn. And the strait is still full of debris and the cries of people do not stop - they are asking for help ...
The steamer Amderma came, then Krasnogorsk. We anchored. The boats were lowered. Between the wreckage - on boats, they were pushed by the oars. They pulled out some people.
When my seiner approached, I barely climbed onto it; the assistant immediately ran to look for his family. The captain from the twenty-first seiner, the husband of my wife's sister, also climbed over to us. It turned out that his wooden boat was damaged, it sank on the deck, and then it was thrown ashore. We started to run here and there. I don’t know how many people the first mate had pulled out of the water before — he only managed to say that he was saving — and we lifted seventeen people aboard. From the wreckage of former buildings.
In addition, realizing that people need to change clothes and eat, they fished out various bales, boxes - basically they hunted for food and clothing. Near the fireplace, which was heated at full power, the rescued were drying shirts, blankets ... Our cook from flour and egg powder - we also caught this in the water - continuously cooked omelet and cakes.
Soon a snowfall, a blizzard, a stormy wind began. Visibility has decreased. We continue to look for people. We noticed a quilt among the wreckage, so pink and satin. We went up to him, hooked him with a hook - maybe we'll dry it and give it to someone. They pulled it, and under it was a window frame, and the corpse of a child was stuck in it. We didn't take the blanket ...
When they made their way to Severo-Kurilsk, they were afraid that they would run into something that could damage either the side or the propeller. We saw a coastal crane. The crane fell into the sea, and this is the picture: its arrow sticks out of the water with a hook, which is for lifting the load, and a pendant - a rope, and this rope is so bent that the hand of a young guy is clamped in it; he hung with his face to the arrow and, apparently, was banging against it - his face was broken, and he was hanging in shorts and a T-shirt, barefoot. We wanted to get him out. Did not work out.
We went ashore, here on the breakwater too ... why didn't it wash away ... At the very edge lay a dead Korean woman, apparently pregnant - a big belly ... They went away, and then, out of a half-washed gravel and sand pit, an arm and a leg protruded. Horror ...
People, when we said to them: load onto the seiner, first of all, children, women and old people, we will leave, - people walked past the corpses in a chain, recognized their relatives and were silent, stiffened, as if not understanding anything, - the horror so paralyzed their consciousness, that they couldn't even cry. The deck housed - mostly sat - about 50-65 people. And we went to the steamer.
In the morning, several steamers had already appeared in the roadstead and there were ships on their way to us - from the side of the ocean, a total of 10 or more units. These are ours. But the Americans also approached - a warship and merchant ships. They offered their services, but they were refused. Firstly, they do nothing for free, and secondly, they thought that their ships would be quite enough to evacuate people.
And so for four days there was a search for people at sea and their delivery to ships. And on the shore, when for the third or fourth time we entered the bucket for transporting a new batch of victims, the corpses had already been removed, and a not such a terrible picture appeared before the eyes of the people. The people were already more organized, somewhat calmer, some were dressed in what had been thrown from planes, others had gathered bundles with some food. But these, probably, were not residents of Severo-Kurilsk, the most densely populated region, which was swept by a wave for about two-thirds, and its outskirts - the flood did not touch them, but only frightened them.
What did I see and what did I remember? For example, the ascent to the volcanoes begins, they stand steeply, and in this direction there is a flat area. On it, the Japanese had an airfield - a wooden flooring made of beams for aircraft. Our bars were pulled apart. There was something in the military, lived in houses and a few civilians. The wave has come here already weakened, bought people pretty well, but the dead ... it seems there was not.
And here, behind this toe, there were high rocks, at low tide they walked along the coast in Kataoko (Baikovo), at high tide - only along the upper path. But further on, there were many buildings right on the shore. There were piers, military and fishing small vessels were moored to them. And we came here more than once to refuel with fresh water - and so here many people died.
Here's another place. Also the coast, low. Here, on the ocean side, there were about two battalions of soldiers, as they say, on the border ... And now imagine - night, the time of the deepest sleep. And - a sudden blow of a giant wave. All the barracks and buildings in an instant are broken, the guys are caught up in the water ... And who could be saved, and how long the survivor, undressed, can hold out in the cold water - after all, it is November. On the shore it was difficult even to kindle a fire, to warm up - not everyone succeeded.
I remember that in Korsakov, in the commission that dealt with the accommodation of the victims of the natural disaster, they called the preliminary figure - 10 thousand people. It was believed that so many died. Well, and then they began to speak differently: less than a thousand, and one and a half thousand. When in Severo-Kurilsk alone, much more could have died ... Actually, it is still unknown how many victims actually were in that terrible element.
Now in front of me is a military map (two-page layout), now it is declassified. Here is the Shumshu island, the strait, there is a low coast, people lived on it, here the height is about 30 meters above sea level, then again - downhill, hilly. There was one cannery here, there was another, in the same area there was a store, a radio station, a ship-building shop, and fish store warehouses. And over there was a Kozyrevsky fish factory. And on the mountain - then people called it Dunkin's navel - there was a monitoring and communication service.
And in this direction there was a wave hit. When she went to sea, perhaps, she was 20 meters high, and when she wedged into a narrow place, and even with such a monstrous speed, naturally, she rose up and in some places, perhaps, reached 35 meters in height. I have already said how the plant was demolished before my very eyes. It was the same with others. And with all the buildings that fell under her wild power.
Below were the warehouses of the fish shop. Naturally, they were destroyed, the goods there are different, the manufactory was scattered. Others unwound rolls, can you imagine?
Not without a funny thing. We had one half-naughty girl - Masha, she, then, comes up to the unwound fabric and is going to cut a piece. The soldier says to her: "Why are you touching!" Well, he drove her away, and she came in from the other end, as they say, grabbed a hefty wet piece and dragged her to her ...
In Severo-Kurilsk, the very first wave destroyed a significant part of the buildings and, rolling back, claimed many human lives. And the second shaft, which collapsed in about 20-25 minutes, was of such a huge destructive force that it tore off objects of many tons.
The whole city was carried in a mass of debris together with the people into the strait, then they were carried back and forth, it happened that on the third day people were being removed from the roofs of destroyed houses; these were Japanese wooden houses, solidly made, under the influence of forces they could squint, move, but they fell apart completely slowly, with difficulty.
And in the wind, in the snow, which began soon after the tsunami, the woman was carried on the roof, on the third day we took her off. Naturally, all this time she tried in every possible way to resist, her fingernails were torn off, her elbows and knees were beaten to the bone. And when we filmed her, she kept clinging to this roof. And where is her, how else to help?
A destroyer was stationed nearby. For some reason, naval sailors did not allow civilian ships to approach their board, we still approached it, the officer of the watch waved: "Move away!" I shouted to him that we have a very seriously wounded woman, she must be sent to the infirmary. The senior officer came out, ordered: "Take the mooring lines!" We approached, dropped the mooring lines, and then the sailors with stretchers came running ...
And on the very first morning after this flood, as soon as dawn broke, planes flew in from Petropavlovsk, and those people who managed to climb the hills from the wave, those people were half-dressed, some in what, some wet. Well, they began to throw off warm clothes, blankets, and food. This, of course, helped people a lot.
All night long, bonfires were burning on the hills, people were warming themselves near them, down, where they still lived yesterday, they were afraid to go down. And what if again? .. Moreover, they announced: they say, there may be more waves and even more. Fortunately, there were no new waves.
The only plant that has completely escaped the elements is the one that stood in Shelikhov Bay, on the side of the Sea of Okhotsk, it remained completely unharmed, except that the water wetted it, that's all.
In general, the tragedy was very big, monstrous, you can neither talk nor write about such a casual one. One has only to remember about her again, as more and more people and terrible pictures appear before my eyes.
After all, it was before the holiday - before November 7th. But there, in the Kuril Islands, not like in big cities, the preparation for the holiday was almost imperceptible - there people usually prepared for the long winter. Stocked up food. For example, at home I had plywood barrels with egg powder, milk powder. Of course, there was fish. I need the meat, so I went, I took the whole ram carcass. Fruit, too, was never bought in kilograms, usually a box, two, or even more. It was difficult to stock up on vegetables, but they were stocked up, as best they could, from the ships that came to us. But for the holidays, of course, there would be more free time. And there would be a massive booze ... If such a disaster happened on the holidays, there would be much more victims.
Late already, as they say, a lot of time has passed, but it is necessary to both tell and write about that tragedy - in some places there are still eyewitnesses of that element. And I hardly see my acquaintances of that time. In Nevelsk, here lives, if not left, Korbut - the foreman of divers to repair the underwater part of ships. Then in Chekhov - Kost, a Greek, was also an eyewitness to this. Polishchuk - senior assistant, died.
Then how was it covered in print? For example, Moscow newspapers come, and what have we read in them about the misfortune of thousands of people? Yes, almost nothing was said, so, in streamlined colors. Everything, even the grief of people, was under a great ban, everything was hidden, turned into a big secret. And these documents were classified as "Secret".
We, the victims, were officially given aid so that they could travel to the mainland. And many left here, another part left and returned, and most settled in different cities and villages of Sakhalin. Those who quickly left for the mainland did not receive their wages for the last period. I was given my salary only in mid-December. This, and me, and many, probably somehow kept me. They also gave out a lot of clothes, both new and worn.
In Voroshilov (now Ussuriysk), they even treated us with envy, temporarily transferred there: we ate free of charge, they brought us goods, some we bought, others gave us free of charge as material assistance. The local population began to look askance at us: they say, they can't buy anything, but all the new goods are coming to us; we were even taken back and forth on trains for free. Those who returned to Sakhalin were provided with housing. Yes, here's another interesting detail. Our parents on the mainland received letters from us from Voroshilov and immediately wrote themselves: what happened, why did you end up there? That is, on the mainland they had no idea what happened at the end of the earth, in the east.
And the help to the victims at that time was significant - in the range of 3-3.5 thousand rubles. There, in the Kuril Islands, some lived in hostels, they had nothing, except for the clothes that were on them. And here friends gathered in the role of witnesses and let's tell the commission: they say, he had that and that. One, for example, told everyone that on the island he had a leather coat, leather gloves, everything, they say, was swept away into the sea. Well, I got three thousand and actually started walking around in a leather coat, and put on leather gloves with long fingers, and the shoes were unthinkable. They called him a parrot, but he achieved his goal.
But this is so, a trifle. But there, on the land of grief, there was also looting ... For example, when we were already in Voroshilov, we have one from the ocean fish processing plant, too, as expected, received help and began to buy things in stores, but everything is more expensive, and gold and silver ... They paid attention to her, followed what she was buying. Well, of course, they made inquiries: I received three thousand, and bought for all thirty.
And at night in the club of the Sugar Factory, where we were temporarily placed and we put on duty for the night, because there were hmyrs who were not averse to profiting from other people's good, and the fact that people survived the tragedy did not interest them, so suddenly they appeared uncles in sheepskin coats. Who are they? What for? Well, they showed their IDs - the police, then asked us to find attesting witnesses from among those who were still awake, and the head of the club would not interfere here. The woman was then woken up and presented with a search warrant. And they began to fiddle with her things. She, of course: "Shame on you, where are you climbing!". And as the linen was unrolled, as a wad of money appeared, not yet completely dry, so it became quiet. Then, in a suitcase, in its double bottom, they found money. Of course, they began to find out where they got such capital.
And it turned out that she and her husband, when the ocean combine washed away, saw a safe on the shore. They hacked it, and there - the salary of the entire team, which was delivered but did not have time to issue. She and her husband shared this money, and she went to Voroshilov, and he stayed in Vladivostok. Well, they took him there.
And in Vladivostok, at the seaport, I saw a different picture. This is when we got there after the disaster. My wife - with children, her sister - with a child, it was four days since she gave birth, she would have died altogether if we had not persuaded the hospital staff to let her go on the eve of the tsunami - it was cold there. And here we go with the children and the little things that we managed to grab. And the other - with suitcases, one is thicker than the other. Well, just like a huckster from some rich land. And they say to him: "And you go through that door over there." Then, you look, comes out of there with nothing - shaken, and under escort.
So everything was in this tragedy: death, and injury, and madness, and grief, and looting, and profit, and feat, and sympathy, and compassion ...
These are the people. That is life.
1. From a special report of the head of the North Kuril police station about a natural disaster - a tsunami that occurred in the North Kuril region on November 5, 1952 (Local history bulletin N 4, 1991 of the Sakhalin Regional Museum of Local Lore and the Sakhalin Branch of the All-Russian Cultural Fund.)
At 4 o'clock in the morning on November 5, 1952, a strong earthquake began in Severo-Kurilsk and the region, which lasted for about 30 minutes, which damaged buildings and destroyed stoves in houses.
Slight hesitations still continued when I went to the district police department to check the damage to the building of the district department and especially the pre-trial detention cell, which held 22 people on November 5 ...
On the way to the regional department, I observed cracks in the ground, 5 to 20 cm wide, formed as a result of an earthquake. Arriving at the regional department, I saw that the building was broken into two halves by the earthquake, the stoves were crumbling, the duty squad ... were in place ...
At that time, there were no more tremors, the weather was very calm ... We did not have time to reach the regional department, when we heard a great noise, then a crackling from the side of the sea. Looking back, we saw a large water wall advancing from the sea onto the island. Since the regional department was at a distance of 150 m from the sea, and the bullpen was about 50 meters from the sea, the bullpen immediately became the first victim of the water ... I gave the order to open fire from my personal weapons and shout: "There is water!" to the hills. Hearing noise and screams, people began to run out of the apartments in what they were wearing (most in underwear, barefoot) and run into the hills.
After about 10-15 minutes, the first wave of water began to descend, and some of the people went to their homes to collect their surviving things.
I with a group of my workers went to the regional department to clarify the situation and rescue the survivor. Approaching the place, we did not find anything, there was a clean place ...
At this time, that is, approximately 15-20 minutes after the departure of the first wave, a shaft of water of even greater force and magnitude rushed out again than the first. People, thinking that everything was over (many, heartbroken by the loss of their loved ones, children and property), descended from the hills and began to settle in the surviving houses in order to warm themselves and dress themselves. The water, meeting no resistance on its way (the first rampart swept away a significant part of the buildings), rushed to the land with exceptional speed and force, completely destroying the remaining houses and buildings. This wave destroyed the entire city and killed most of the population.
The water of the second wave did not have time to leave, when for the third time water gushed out and carried into the sea almost everything that was from the buildings in the city.
For 20-30 minutes (the time of two almost simultaneous waves of enormous strength) in the city there was a terrible noise of boiling water and crumbling buildings. Houses and roofs of houses were thrown like matchboxes and carried into the sea. The strait separating the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu was completely filled with floating houses, roofs and other debris.
The escaped people, frightened by what was happening, in panic throwing their things and losing their children, rushed to run higher into the mountains.
After that, the water began to drain and cleaned the island. But insignificant tremors began again and most of the surviving people remained in the hills, fearing to descend. Taking advantage of this, certain groups of the civilian population and military personnel began to rob the houses that remained on the slopes of the hills, smash the safes and other personal and state property scattered throughout the city ...
By order of the commander of the garrison, Major General Duka, Captain Kalinenkov with a group of soldiers took over the security of the State Bank ...
By 10 o'clock in the morning on November 5, 1952, approximately the entire personnel was assembled. It has been established that among the employees of the regional police department there is no passport officer Korobanov V.I. with the child and the secretary-typist L.I. Kovtun. with a child and mother. According to inaccurate information, Korobanov and Kovtun were picked up by a boat on the open sea, put on a steamer and sent to Petropavlovsk. The wives of police officers Osintsev and Galmutdinov were killed. Of the 22 people held in the bullpen, 7 people were saved ...
On November 6, at the party's economic activists, a commission was organized to evacuate the population, supply them with food and clothing ... An order was given to the squad leader Matveyenko to immediately gather the rank and file ... However, most of the personnel left the gathering place without permission and by the evening of November 6 got on the steamer "Uelen" ...
A natural disaster completely destroyed the building of the regional police department, the bullpen, the stable ... The total loss is 222.4 thousand rubles.
All the documentation of the regional department, seals, stamps ... washed away in the sea ... Taking advantage of the natural disaster, the garrison soldiers, having drunk alcohol, brandy and champagne scattered around the city, began to engage in looting ...
In the fish processing plant "Okeansky" on November 5, 1952, after the destruction, a safe was found in which there were 280 thousand rubles belonging to the combine ...
At the fish processing plants Babushkino and Kozyrevskoye, at the time of the natural disaster, servicemen stole a large number of inventory items belonging to fish cooperatives.
On the stated facts, the servicemen informed the command for taking measures.
Senior Lieutenant of State Security P.M. Deryabin
2. Certificate of the Deputy Head of the Sakhalin Regional Police Department on the results of the trip to the area of the natural disaster
On November 6, 1952, by order of the head of the Sakhalin Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Colonel of State Security Comrade Smirnov, together with members of the committee of the regional committee of the CPSU, flew to the North Kuril region. (1)
During his stay in the North Kuril region from November 8 to December 6, 1952, from conversations with the affected population, party-Soviet and scientific workers, as well as as a result of personal observations and study of places subjected to flooding and destruction, he established that on November 5, 1952 At 3 hours 55 minutes, an earthquake of great destructive force occurred on the islands of the Kuril ridge, including Paramushir, Shumshu, Alaid and Onekotan. The reason for the earthquake, as scientists explain, was the constant pressure of the earth's crust to the east. Due to the fact that the bottom of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk consists of solid basalt rock that can withstand this titanic stress, the breakdown occurred in the weakest place (in the structure of the seabed) in the Pacific Ocean, in the so-called Tuskoror depression. At a depth of 7-8 thousand meters, about 200 km east of Paramushir Island, at the time of the giant compression of the depression, a sharp rise of the ocean floor (discharge) occurred, possibly followed by a volcanic eruption, displacing a huge mass of water, which rolled in the form of a wall and to the islands of the Kuril ridge.
As a result of the earthquake, the city of Severo-Kurilsk, the villages of Okeanskoye, Utesnoye, Levashovo, Kamenisty, Galkino, Podgorny, and others were destroyed and demolished by a wave. The earthquake continued with varying strengths several times a day throughout November, December and after. At 1 am on November 16, the Yuzhny volcano began to erupt. At first, strong explosions with flares occurred, and then lava and ash poured from the crater of the volcano, carried by the wind for 30-50 km and covered the earth by 7-8 cm.
Judging by the explanations of eyewitnesses, the earthquake began as follows: on November 5, 1952, at 3:55 am, the inhabitants of Severo-Kurilsk were awakened by strong tremors, accompanied, as it were, by numerous underground explosions, reminiscent of a distant artillery cannonade. Owing to the vibrations of the earth's crust, buildings were deformed, plaster fell from the ceiling and walls, stoves collapsed, wardrobes and shelves fell, swaying dishes, and more stable objects - tables, beds, moved along the floor from wall to wall, just like loose objects on a ship during the storm.
Tremors, sometimes with increasing, sometimes with weakening force, continued for 30 - 35 minutes. Then there was silence. Inhabitants of Severo-Kurilsk, accustomed to the previous periodic fluctuations of the soil, in the first minutes of the earthquake on November 5, believed that it would quickly stop, therefore, fleeing half-naked from the falling objects and destruction, they ran out into the street. The weather that night was warm, only here and there the first snow that fell the day before was preserved. It was an unusually moonlit night.
As soon as the earthquake stopped, the population returned to their apartments to continue sleeping, and individual citizens, in order to prepare for the holiday, immediately began to repair the apartments destroyed by the earthquake, unaware of the impending danger.
At about 5 o'clock in the morning, the people who were on the street heard an unusually formidable and growing noise from the side of the sea, and at the same time - rifle shots in the city. As it turned out later, the workers and the military were shooting, who were among the first to notice the movement of the wave. They paid attention to the strait. At that time, in the strait between the islands of Shumshu and Paramushir, against the background of the moonlight from the side of the ocean, a huge water wall was seen. He suddenly appeared quite clearly, bordered by a wide strip of foam, rapidly approaching the city of Severo-Kurilsk. It seemed to people that the island was sinking. This impression, by the way, was among the population and other settlements that were subjected to flooding. The hope of salvation was determined by only a few tens of seconds. Residents of the city, who are on the street, raised a cry: "Save yourself! The water is coming!" Most of the people in underwear, barefoot, grabbing the children, rushed to the hill. Meanwhile, the wall of water has already collapsed on the coastal structures. The city was filled with the crash of destroyed buildings, heartbreaking screams and screams of drowning people and people running to the hill pursued by the water wall.
The first rampart rolled back into the strait, taking with it many human casualties and a significant part of the coastal buildings. People began to descend from the hills, began to inspect apartments, search for missing relatives. But no more than 20 - 25 minutes passed, when a noise was again heard in the direction of the ocean, which turned into a terrible roar, and an even more formidable water shaft with a height of 10 - 15 meters was again rapidly rolling down the strait. The shaft, with a noise and roar, crashed into the northeastern protrusion of Paramushir island in the area of Severo-Kurilsk and crashed against it, one wave rolled further along the strait in a northwest direction, destroying coastal structures on the Shumshu and Paramushir islands on its way, and the other, describing an arc along the North Kuril lowland in a southeastern direction, collapsed on the city of Severo-Kurilsk, madly rotating in a circle of the depression and with rapid convulsive jerks washing away to the ground all structures and structures located on the ground 10-15 meters above the level seas.
The force of the water shaft in its rapid movement was so enormous that objects small in size but heavy in weight, such as: machines installed on rubble bases, one and a half ton safes, tractors, cars - tore off their places, circled in a whirlpool along with wooden objects, and then scattered over a huge area or carried away into the strait.
As an indicator of the enormous destructive power of the second wave, an example is typical of the State Bank's storeroom, which is a reinforced concrete block weighing 15 tons. It was torn from a 4 square meter rubble foundation and thrown 8 meters away.
Despite the tragedy of this disaster, the absolute majority of the population was not at a loss; moreover, at the most critical moments, many unnamed heroes displayed lofty heroic deeds: risking their lives, they saved children, women, and the elderly.
Here are two girls leading an old woman. Pursued by the approaching wave, they try to run faster towards the hill. The old woman, exhausted, sinks to the ground in exhaustion. She begs the girls to leave her and save herself. But the girls, through the noise and thunder of the approaching elements, shout to her: "We will not leave you anyway, let us all drown together." They pick up the old woman in their arms and try to run, but at that moment the oncoming wave picks them up and throws everyone together on a hill. They are saved.
Loseva's mother and young daughter, fleeing on the roof of their house, were thrown into the strait by a wave. Calling for help, they were noticed by people on the hill. Soon in the same place, not far from the floating Losevs, a little girl was seen on the board, as it turned out later, the three-year-old Svetlana Embankment miraculously escaped, which either disappeared or reappeared on the crest of the wave. From time to time, she tucked her hand back in her brown hair, fluttering in the wind, which indicated that the girl was alive.
The strait at this time was completely filled with floating houses, roofs, various demolished property, and especially fishing gear, interfering with the navigation of boats. The first attempts to break through on boats were unsuccessful - solid blockages prevent us from moving forward, and fishing tackle is wound on propellers. But then a boat separated from the coast of Shumshu Island, which slowly makes its way forward through the rubble. Here he comes to the floating roof, the boat crew quickly removes the Losevs, and then carefully removes Svetlana from the board. The people sitting with bated breath breathed a sigh of relief.
During the run-up to the city of Severo-Kurilsk alone, the population and the command of various floating crafts picked up and rescued more than 15 children lost by their parents, and removed 192 people from roofs and other floating objects in the strait, the Sea of Okhotsk and the ocean.
Many responsible workers, until the last minute, notifying the population about the impending danger, themselves became victims of the disaster. So, the manager of the Severo-Kurilskiy Rybtrest, a member of the district committee of the CPSU, comrade M.S. Alperin, died. (2)
A lot of courage, initiative and resourcefulness were shown in saving people and state property. For example, when the second, more formidable, wave approached the fishing village of Levashovo, fishermen Puzachkov and Zimovin, believing that the island would flood, raised a cry: "Brothers! Save yourself on the kungas!" 18 men, women and children plunged into the kungas, but not having time to take the oars, they were caught by the tide of the wave and carried away into the ocean. Thanks to resourcefulness, replacing the oars with boards, they sailed to the shore on the second day. Comrade Zimovin and Puzachkov, together with their wives, actively participated in the collection of state property ...
Many captains and boat crews took an active part in saving the population and property, and then in transporting the population from the island to ships during significant storms without casualties. At the same time, a number of crew members showed cowardice, leaving the ships to their fate, with the first ships fled to the mainland.
And, if the majority of the population, half-naked, with children in the open sky, pierced by strong wind, rain and snow, courageously and staunchly endured all the hardships, individuals, taking advantage of the natural disaster, appropriated state values, property and hid with the first steamers. Individuals, including some military personnel, were engaged in looting ... Many cases of looting were prevented by the military command, the population itself and the militia bodies ...
As a result of the natural disaster on the site of the city of Severo-Kurilsk, an almost empty area of several square kilometers was formed, and only individual foundations of buildings demolished by a wave, roofs of houses thrown out of the strait, a lonely standing monument to soldiers of the Soviet Army, a rubble frame of a radio station building, central the gates of the former stadium, various state, cooperative and personal property of citizens, scattered over a huge area. The second wave caused especially huge destruction to the city. The third wall of water that followed after 20 - 25 minutes was already less significant in height and strength, did not cause any destruction, and there was nothing to destroy. The third wave threw out fragments of buildings and various property from the strait, which were partially left on the coast of the bay.
According to preliminary data, during the catastrophe, 1,790 civilians died, military personnel: officers - 15 people, soldiers - 169 people, family members - 14 people. Huge damage to the state was inflicted, calculated through the Fishery Consumer Union of more than 85 million rubles. Great damage was inflicted on the Voentorg, the military department, city and communal services and individuals. (3)
Severo-Kurilsk, together with industry, institutions, housing stock, was almost completely destroyed and washed into the sea. The population was about 6,000 people, of which about 1,200 people died. All corpses, with the exception of a few, were washed into the sea. There are still several houses located on a hill, a power plant, part of the fleet and a lot of scattered property, canned food, wine products and clothing. Also preserved is the main warehouse of the Severo-Kuril Fishery Consumer Union and the Military Trade Union, several dozen horses, cows and pigs belonging to no one knows who.
In the village of Utesny (4), all production facilities and buildings were completely destroyed and washed into the ocean. Only a residential building and a stable remained ... cigarettes, shoes, butter, cereals and other products were scattered with water; 19 heads of cattle, 5 horses, 5 pigs and about 10 tons of hay. There are no human casualties - the population was about 100 people who were completely evacuated.
The village of Levashovo (5) - all enterprises, a store and a fish store warehouse were washed into the ocean. Seven houses and a tent have survived. The population was 57 people, no casualties, all were evacuated. There are 28 heads of cattle, 3 horses and two kungas left.
Settlement Rifovy (6) - no human casualties. All production facilities and premises were destroyed and washed into the ocean. Remained intact - refrigerator equipment, central material warehouse and 41 residential buildings. The fleet was also destroyed, with the exception of 8 kungas and several wrecked boats. 37 heads of cattle, 28 pigs, 46 tons of flour, 10 tons of sugar, 5 tons of butter, 2 tons of alcohol and other inventory items worth 7-8 million rubles were left from the subsidiary farm. The entire population, more than 400 people were evacuated ...
The village of Kamenisty - on the day of the disaster there was no population ... In the village, all production facilities were completely demolished by water. Only one house remained from the housing stock.
Pribrezhny village - all production facilities and premises were destroyed and taken down into the ocean. There are 9 residential buildings left, located on a hill and one warehouse of technical and material property. There are no casualties. The residing population, less than 100 people, has been completely evacuated.
The village of Galkino - no human casualties. The population was less than 100 people who were completely evacuated. Manufacturing plants and living quarters have been destroyed and washed into the ocean.
The village of Okeansky (7) - it housed a fish processing plant, a cannery, a caviar plant with workshops and two refrigerators, mechanical workshops, power plants, a sawmill, a school, a hospital and other government agencies. According to preliminary data, 460 people died from the disaster, 542 people survived who were evacuated. There are 32 residential houses left, more than a hundred heads of cattle, 200 tons of flour in stacks, 8 thousand cans of scattered canned food, 3 thousand cans of milk, 3 tons of butter, 60 tons of cereals, 25 tons of oats, 30 barrels of alcohol and other valuables. All industrial enterprises and housing stock were destroyed and washed away by water into the ocean.
The village of Podgorny (8) - it housed a whale factory. All production facilities, warehouses, as well as almost the entire housing stock were destroyed and washed away by water into the ocean. The population was over 500 people, 97 people survived who were evacuated. In the village, there are 55 residential houses, more than 500 pieces of poultry, 6 ten-ton tanks and on the site of the former warehouse - several dozen sacks of flour and other products.
The village of Baza Boevaya was mothballed before the disaster. The population at the time of the disaster did not live. All factories have been destroyed by water. There are two residential buildings and one tank with a capacity of up to 800 tons left.
Cape Vasiliev - everything has been completely preserved. The civilian population was 12 people.
The village of Major Van - the base of the Shelekhovsky fish processing plant was located there. The village was not damaged. The population was evacuated.
The village of Shelekhovo (9) - a fish processing plant was located there. The population was 805 people, there is no destruction in the village. The population was evacuated. 102 people were left.
The village of Savushkino (10) - it housed a military base with subsidiary farming. There are no casualties, no destruction either.
Kozyrevsky village (11) - there were two fish factories. The population was over 1000 people, 10 people died from the disaster. The rest of the population was evacuated. Both factories were completely destroyed and washed into the sea. On the shore there are many cans of flounder and Kuril salmon scattered with water.
The village of Babushkino (12) - a fish factory was located there. The population was over 500 people, no human casualties. The population was evacuated. A walkie-talkie and two radio operators were left. Industrial enterprises are completely destroyed and washed into the sea. The housing stock was damaged by 30-40%.
The administrative building of the Severo-Kurilskiy district branch of the State Bank was also completely demolished, the documentation was washed out into the sea, but the safes and the storage room of the State Bank, with the exception of one safe, were found not far from the location of the administrative building, in which all valuables worth about 9 million rubles were fully preserved. The values of savings banks have been preserved in the settlements of Shelekhovo, Baikovo and others, only 11 out of 14 savings banks, in the rest the values have been partially lost.
The safes belonging to the Severo-Kurilsk central cash desk were also found; personal accounts of the depositors were not found.
It should be noted that in connection with the sudden evacuation of border guards, in the early days in a number of villages - Shelekhovo, Okeansky, Rifovoy, Galkino and on Alaid Island, there was a panic among the population, as a result of which all state and public property in these points was abandoned fate ...
In the period from November 14 to November 26, the border guards returned back. By this time, in all settlements, an authorized representative of the regional committee of the CPSU, with the help of military units and the remaining civilian population, organized the collection of state, public and personal property, which was transferred under the protection of military units or civilians ...
Upon arrival in Severo-Kurilsk on November 8, 1952, in accordance with the decision of the committee of the regional committee of the CPSU, I organized the collection of state and public property both in Severo-Kurilsk and in a number of other flooded villages. To manage the collection and protection of property, commission and police officers were sent to the villages ...
As a result, for the period from 10 to 20 November 1952, that is, before the snow drifts, ... in Severo-Kurilsk, alcoholic beverages worth 8.75 million rubles were collected and stored in the warehouses of the Fishing Consumer Union, 126 tons of flour, which was delivered to warehouses military units ..., 16 horses, 112 heads of cattle, 33 small heads, 9 heifers, 90 pigs, 32 piglets, 6 sheep. A large number of material values were collected and saved in the villages of Okeansky, Rifovoy, etc.
On November 23, I, together with the members of the committee of the regional committee of the CPSU, comrade Kuskov and the secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU, comrade Orlov, traveled on a seiner to the villages of Rifovoye, Okeanskoye, Shelekhovo, where the necessary measures were taken to strengthen the safety of the remaining property and ensure public order. In other villages, due to a strong storm, it was not necessary to land. By the time of departure, on November 6 ... Comrade Bezrodny (the police officer) was asked ...
Upon arrival of the police officers, send to the following settlements to protect public order: Shelekhovo - 2 people, Rifovoye - 1 person, Okeanskoye - 1 person, Kozyrevskoye - 1 person;
Carefully take into account the entire population of the district's settlements, including the crew;
Take an active part in organizing work to collect and protect state values left on the banks, as well as personal property of citizens ...;
To fight decisively against looting;
Take measures to clarify the dead during a natural disaster, ensure the collection of documents of the dead ...
Police Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov
3. From the transcript of the interrogation drawn up at the police station of the city of Severo-Kurilsk
I, the deputy head of the police department of the UMGB of the Sakhalin region, police colonel Smirnov, interrogated as a witness Pavel Ivanovich Smolin, born in 1925, a native of the Krasnodar Territory, Kurganinsky district, the village of Rodnikovskaya, non-partisan, Russian, education of 6 classes, married, son of 4 years. Works on logger N 636 as a radio operator (13); lived in the city of Severo-Kurilsk, st. Soviet, barrack N 49, apt. 13; we are not judged; has no documents with him ...
Testimony on the merits of the case:
I have been working at logger N 636, which belongs to the Severo-Kuril fish processing plant, in the position of a radio operator since May or June 1952, and in all, I have been working in the fishing industry in the North Kuril Islands since 1950. On the night of November 5, 1952, I, together with other fishermen, were at sea on a logger (fishing), more precisely, we were in a bucket. At about 4 o'clock in the morning, a great shudder of the ship was felt on the logger. Me and other fishermen understood it as an earthquake ... On the night of November 5th ... there was a storm warning of 6-7 points. After the earthquake, our logger under the command of Captain Lymar went out to sea first. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning.
Walking along the Second Strait in the area of Banjovsky Cape, our logger was covered by the first wave several meters high. While in the cockpit, I felt that our ship was, as it were, lowered into a hole, and then thrown high up. A second wave followed a few minutes later, and the same thing repeated. Then the ship went quietly, and no throws were felt. The ship was at sea all day. Only at about 6 pm some military radio station transmitted to us: "Immediately return to Severo-Kurilsk. We are waiting at the apparatus. Alperin." I immediately reported to the captain, who immediately answered: "Immediately I am returning to Severo-Kurilsk." By that time, on board we had up to 70 centners of fish caught per day. Loger headed for Severo-Kurilsk.
On the way back, I contacted logger N 399 by radio, asking the radio operator: "What happened to Severo-Kurilsk?" The radio operator Pokhodenko answered me: "Go to save people ... after the earthquake, the wave washed away Severo-Kurilsk. We are standing under the side of the steamer, the steering is out of order, the propeller is bent." My attempts to contact Severo-Kurilsk were unsuccessful - he was silent. I contacted Shelekhov by radio. The radio operator answered me: "There was a drain earthquake in Severo-Kurilsk, maybe something happened." I answered him that we left at the time of the earthquake, and everything was in order there. This ended the conversation.
Even in the Sea of Okhotsk, before reaching the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu, the logger's team, including myself, saw the roofs of houses, logs, boxes, barrels, beds, doors floating towards them. By order of the captain, the team was deployed on the deck on both sides of the sides and on the bow in order to rescue people who were at sea. But none of the people were found. Throughout the 5-6 miles journey, we saw the same picture: floating barrels, boxes, etc. dense mass.
Entering the Second Strait, four boats came to meet us. Two military boats followed them. From the latter, some signals were given: apparently, with the aim of stopping the boats in front. But they continued to follow.
Arriving on the raid, our logger approached logger N 399 ... whose captain asked our captain not to leave them ... We replied that we would not drop and anchored. There was no connection with the coast. The time was about 2-3 a.m. on November 6, 1952. They were waiting for dawn. Lights were burning on the hills opposite Severo-Kurilsk. We believed that people were saving themselves on the hills, there were many bonfires. As dawn began, others and I discovered that the city of Severo-Kurilsk had been washed away.
At about 8 o'clock in the morning, I and the other sailors, under the command of the third mate, Comrade Kryvchik, sailed in a boat to the cannery and then disembarked. People, including the military, walked in the place of the city - they collected the corpses ... Having examined the place where the barrack in which I lived was located, I did not find any signs (of it) ... I did not find any things that belonged to me - everything was demolished. In my apartment I had clothes, a sewing machine, a passbook with a deposit of 15 thousand rubles, a military ID, seven medals ...
My family - wife, Smolina Anna Nikiforova, son, Alexander, four years old, on November 6, 1953 arrived in a refrigerator from Vladivostok. She was on vacation and went to fetch her son in the Krasnodar Territory, home ... I found her in a refrigerator on November 8. Now his wife and son are on board logger N 636, they work as a cook.
After I did not find the hut in which I lived, I went by boat to my logger, taking on board people from the shore, including women and children. The logger team continued to transport people on board.
On November 7 or 8, we received a radiogram: "Transfer all people taken on board, from among those in distress, to a steamer," so we passed all of them to steamers whose names I do not remember. The evacuation of the civilian population was completed on November 9, and more people did not come to us.
Among the members of the crew of logger N 636, they found their families who had escaped on the hills in Severo-Kurilsk, captain Lymar - his wife, senior mechanic Filippov - his wife and daughter, second mate of captain Nevzorov - his wife; the third assistant mechanic Ivanov found a wife and four children; got on a steamer and left. The first assistant to the mechanic, Petrov, found his wife and son and also left on the steamer. The rest of the family members live on the ship. In addition to the indicated persons, who left the vessel without permission, the boatswain, trawlmaster and trawler's assistant disappeared ... the third mate has not yet returned on board. As a result, only 15 people remained from the logger's team ...
Smolin (signature)
Beached by the tsunami in 1952, a whaling ship.
Severo-Kurilsk nowadays.
Monument to the victims of the 1952 tsunami. (Severo-Kurilsk)
NOTES:
1. A group of responsible workers headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Sakhalin Regional Executive Committee GF Korolev went to the scene of the disaster from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Skopinov.
2. Alperin Mikhail Semenovich (1900-1952) - was born in Odessa in a working class family. He worked in executive positions in the fishing industry of the Far East and Sakhalin. A talented organizer, he devoted a lot of effort to the establishment of a fish factory and factories in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. On May 7, 1952, he was appointed manager of the Severo-Kuril State Fishery Trust. He died on November 5, 1952 while saving people and state property during the tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk. Buried on November 7. The grave of M.S. Alperina is a historical and cultural monument of the Sakhalin region.
3. The issue of casualties and other consequences of the disaster requires further study. As a result of the disaster on the islands of the Severo-Kuril region, all enterprises of the fishing industry, warehouses of food and material values, almost all institutions, cultural and household enterprises and almost 70% of the housing stock were destroyed and washed into the sea. Only the Shelekhovsky fish processing plant with its bases along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, where the wave height was no more than 5 meters, remained unharmed.
4. The village of Utesny was located 7 km from the city of Severo-Kurilsk. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 228 of July 14, 1964.
5. The Levashovo fishery was located at the exit from the Second Kuril Strait. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 502 of December 29, 1962.
6. Settlement Rifovoe, the center of the village council of the same name. Was in Rifovaya Bay. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement in 1962. The Reef Fish Processing Plant had branches in the villages of Pribrezhny and Kamenisty.
7. The Okeansky settlement was the center of the village council of the same name. Here was the central base of the fish processing plant with branches in the villages of Galkino and Boevaya. Localities removed from records in 1962.
8. The settlement of Podgorny was excluded from the registration data by the decision of the regional executive committee N 161 of April 10, 1973.
9. The village of Shelekhovo was the center of the village council of the same name. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 228 of July 14, 1964.
10. The village of Savushkino was located within the city of Severo-Kurilsk. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 161 of April 10, 1973.
11. The village of Kozyrevsky was the center of the village council of the same name. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 223 of July 24, 1985.
12. The village of Babushkino was the center of the village council of the same name. It was excluded from the registration data as a settlement by the decision of the regional executive committee N 161 of April 10, 1973.
13. Loger - SRT type fishing vessel.
14. With the onset of dawn on November 5, reconnaissance aircraft from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky appeared over the islands, which examined the area and took photographs. Following the scouts, warm clothes, tents and food for the affected population fleeing around the fires were dropped from the planes throughout the day. From the very dawn, the planes began to land at the airfield of Shumshu Island and take patients to Kamchatka. At the same time, the surviving boats of the Severo-Kurilsk State Fisheries Trust went into the strait to rescue people carried away at sea. From military warehouses, food and warm clothes were distributed to the population, the patients were placed in a hospital.
15. The evacuation of the affected population of the North Kuril region began on November 6, 1952. Steamships from Petropavlovsk and Vladivostok began to arrive in the Second Kuril Strait. There were 40 vessels of different carrying capacity under loading. Until November 11, the entire population was evacuated. Most of them soon returned via Korsakov and Kholmsk to work in the Sakhalin Oblast.
© Local history bulletin No. 4, 1991
Copy of other people's materials
