Russia’s nuclear submarine base showed visible damage to one of its floating piers, with one segment appears to have detached from its anchor point.
A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula last week appears to have damaged part of a key nuclear submarine base, the New York Times reported, citing the before and after satellite images.
The Rybachiy submarine base used by Russia’s Pacific Fleet is located on the remote Far East coast of Russia, merely 80 miles (about 120 kilometres) away from the epicentre of the July 30 earthquake.
The satellite imagery of the nuclear submarine base showed visible damage to one of its floating piers, The New York Times reported citing commercial satellite photos taken by Planet Labs.
The imagery showed that one segment of the pier appears to have detached from its anchor point. From the satellite perspective, the structure looks disjointed, with visible misalignment compared to its earlier state.
However, the rest of the facility, including five submarines and several other vessels, appeared undamaged and securely moored. According to the NYT, international nuclear monitoring agencies reported normal radiation levels in the vicinity.
Hindustan Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the claim in the report. By the time this report was filed, Russian authorities had not officially confirmed the damage.
Base located close to epicentre
The Rybachiy base, built during the Soviet era, is a strategically important site for Russia’s naval operations in the Pacific. It has been the subject of recent military upgrades, including the installation of two new floating piers since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier, The Metro reported that the base’s proximity to the epicentre has alarmed military analysts and sparked questions about the facility’s long-term resilience to extreme seismic events.
Russia quake aftermath
Despite the earthquake’s powerful 8.8 magnitude, no fatalities or major injuries were reported in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The nearby city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, which shares a bay with the Rybachiy submarine base, sustained only minor damage.
Tsunami warnings were sounded across the Pacific, including in French Polynesia and Chile, but the waves remained offshore and did not reach the city centre.
The surrounding Kamchatka region also saw volcanic activity and multiple aftershocks in the days following the quake with a magnitude 5.0 earthquake hitting approximately 108 kilometres southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy on Tuesday.
The Rybachiy base is believed to host some of Russia’s most powerful nuclear-powered submarines, including the Alexander Nevsky, Vladimir Monomakh, and K-44 Ryazan. Access to the base and the surrounding town of Rybachiy is tightly restricted due to its strategic importance.
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