Overview
- A magnitude 8.8 quake on the Kuril–Kamchatka subduction zone on July 29–30, 2025 generated a Pacific-wide tsunami captured by NASA/CNES’s SWOT satellite.
- SWOT mapped a 75–120 kilometer-wide swath of sea-surface height roughly 70 minutes after the quake, showing a complex wave pattern rather than a single intact crest.
- The leading open-ocean wave exceeded about 45 centimeters in height, with smaller trailing waves indicating significant dispersion and scattering.
- By combining the satellite swath with DART buoy records, researchers revised the earthquake rupture to extend about 400 kilometers, larger than many initial estimates.
- The peer-reviewed analysis in The Seismic Record underscores the need to incorporate dispersive physics and to explore integrating satellite swaths into multi-platform warning systems.