Tsunami in the Caspian Sea: Seismic Sources
and Features of Propagation

S. F. Dotsenko, I. P. Kuzin, B. V. Levin, and O. N. Solov’eva

Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Received December 28, 1998; in final form, July 1, 1999

Abstract—The tectonic environment and seismicity of the Caspian region are briefly considered as the initial
conditions for tsunami generation. A review of the tsunamis in the Caspian Sea for the period from 957 to 1989
is presented. The main feature of the Caspian tsunamis is the local character of their manifestation. A coinci-
dence of the sites of tsunami generation with the areas of high seismicity in the coastal zone recovered from the
instrumental data for the period from the 1930s up to present was revealed. The results of the calculations of
tsunami propagation following the ray model allowed us to recognize the origin of their local manifestation.
The presence of a strong lateral refraction due to the continental slope topography results in capturing wave
perturbations over the shelf zone. Therefore, tsunamis virtually do not propagate toward the open sea, attenu-
ating in the coastal zone close to the seismic source. The analysis of the seismotectonic environment allows one
to forecast tsunami generation, first of all, in the region of the Apsheron sill.

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