Sakhalin is situated at the boundary of the Eurasian and North American plates where oblique convergence occur.

[3] However, its southern part has not experienced seismicity exceeding magnitude 5.0 prior to 17 August 2006 when a Mw  5.6 earthquake struck Gornozavodsk.

[2] The Mw  6.2 earthquake occurred within the West Sakhalin Fault System on August 2 at 13:37 local time.

[8][14] Medical experts from the Sakhalin Disaster Medicine Center also flew into the town to treat the injured.

[18] The earthquake generated three non-destructive tsunami waves along the coast of Sakhalin that were unusually large for its magnitude.

Seven minutes after the mainshock, a tide gauge at the Kholmsk harbor recorded the sea level rising and a 0.2 m (7.9 in) wave.

The tsunami attained a maximum height of 3.2 m (10 ft) at the mouth of the Asanai River, near the village of Zavety Il’icha in the northern part of Nevelsky District.

[20] Under president Vladimir Putin's order, emergency situations minister Sergei Shoigu visited the affected area to assist the homeless.

[22] According to the town's mayor, Vladimir Pak, the federal and regional governments oversaw the rebuilding process.

[13] Vladimir Yakovlev, the regional development minister, estimated the cost of reconstruction work at ₽4.5–5 billion (US$184–204 million[17]).