Details About Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky

The city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the industrial, scientific and cultural center of Kamchatka. The city and its extremely large harbor are well-protected from all storms, and even from the dreaded tsunami tidal waves. The largest tsunami, the tidal wave of 1952, destroyed the town of Severo-Kurilsk on the island of Paramushir. Although the town is only 100 miles from Kamchatka, as the tsunami ran into Avacha Bay it died down to a harmless wave only a few feet tall. Even its long-time residents make no claims about the city's beauty; its monotonous, Soviet-style 5-story buildings (there are no tall buildings in the city because of earthquake risks) are hard on the eyes, and pot-hole filled streets crowded with old, coughing cars do not add much. This matters little, however, since the city is surrounded by incredible natural beauty- the Avacha and Koryak volcanoes to the north, and huge Avacha Bay to the south.