The Pacific Plate is subducted beneath the Okhotsk plate just miles off Kamchatka's coast in the and the peninsula isverygeologically active. Two of the most powerful earthquakes of record shook the peninsula in 1737 and 1952 at ~9.3 and 9.0 magnitude, respectively. The latter caused a tsunami which ravaged Hawaii and even reached as far as New Zealand and Chile. In addition to these two megaquakes, powerful earthquakes occur quite often. A 6.0 magnitude earthquake occurs every 3-5 years with a 7.0 quake occurring every 10-15 years.
Usual precautions in mountains include warm clothes such as windbreaking vests and hats as the weather changes and temperatures fall to 0C, sunglasses and creams because of the sun radiation.
Do not walk off the paths to the scree and snow slopes.
Beware of bears, who happen to ramble into the city suburbs, not to mention remote wilderness. Do not leave food, even small pieces and cans in the paths or campsites. Bears have acute smell sense and once tried human food, they'll come to the place again and again. Making noise, talking is advisable while trekking and bears will shun unusual and mostly loud sounds.
Poisonous plants are rare but they exist.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Kamchatka
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Kamchatka - updated May 2024
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Kamchatka Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
