Russian nuclear submarine base hit by tsunami, satellite images reveal
Russia's nuclear submarine base in the country's Far East appears to have been hit by the powerful tsunami that swept the Pacific on July 30, according to satellite imagery seen by the Telegraph and published Aug. 1.
An 8.8 magnitude earthquake near the Russian Kamchatka peninsula on July 30 triggered tsunami waves in Russia's Far East, prompting evacuations in Japan and Hawaii and warnings across the Pacific Ocean.
The waves reportedly hit the Rybachiy naval base, which houses the bulk of the nuclear submarines in Russia's Pacific Fleet, according to images taken by the Umbra Space satellite the morning after the tsunami.
The base is believed to have been hit within 15 minutes of the earthquake.
The images show that a section of a pier at the base has bent away from its original position, suggesting it may have been detached from its moorings. While damage to the structure itself has little military significance, it is unclear how much damage the base may have sustained overall.
"If the base assumption is that a wave got in there and bent that jetty then yes, what else did it do?" Retired Royal Navy Commander Tom Sharpe told the Telegraph.
Dr. Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), cautioned that there is no evidence of damage to any submarines.
"It looks like it was a surface ship that was moored at the pier rather than a submarine, which is noteworthy. I'm not sure we can really ascertain more than that a pier was damaged," he said in comments to the Telegraph.
Russia's Rybachiy base is home to the majority of the nuclear submarines in Moscow's Pacific Fleet. The vessels are critical to Russia's nuclear deterrence strategy in the Pacific, as they are stationed closer to the U.S. than any other submarines except those on forward deployment.
The reported damage to the base comes shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to be deployed "to appropriate regions" in response to nuclear saber-rattling from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Trump said on Aug. 1 that he gave the order due to Medvedev's "foolish and inflammatory" remarks.
