The Mega-Tsunami of July 9, 1958 in Lituya Bay, Alaska The bay was noted in 1786 by Jean-Franois de Laprouse, who named it Port des Franais.Twenty-one of his men perished in the tidal current in the bay. Anchorage; UTC time 1958-07-10 06:15:58; . Aboard the Badger, Bill Swanson was shaken awake by the earthquake. Recorded tsunami, triggered by an earthquake triggered a giant wave that destroyed native. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey. Instead, the megatsunami was caused by a massive and sudden impulsive impact when about 40 million cubic yards of rock several hundred meters above the bay was fractured from the side of the bay, by the earthquake, and fell "practically as a monolithic unit" down the almost vertical slope and into the bay. At the head of Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 10, 1958, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 triggered a gigantic rock fall, later estimated as measuring forty million cubic yards, at the headland of the bay and a resultant 1,700-foot-high tsunami wave because of the water that was displaced. This wasfollowed by an explosion of water in Gilbert Inlet, which gave birth toa wave that Ulrich described as the smallest part of the whole thing even though it was at least 100 feet high. A further event that erased the above evidence and uprooted trees over 150 meters (490 feet) up the sides of the bay, in 1936. It does, however, highlight the importance of documenting such events for posterity, and to consider such extreme events when making development decisions for coastal areas in areas with high seismicity or vulnerability to tsunamis. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey. Big chunks of ice were falling off the face of it and down into the water. Miller, Don J., 1954, "Cataclysmic Flood Waves in Lituya Bay, Alaska", "M 8.3 - 19 km NNW of Elfin Cove, Alaska", "Earthquake History of the United States", "Modeling the 1958 Lituya Bay mega-tsunami, II", "The Mega-Tsunami of July 9, 1958, in Lituya Bay, Alaska", "Lituya Bay case: Rockslide Impact and Wave Run-Up", "Benchmarks: July 9, 1958: Megatsunami drowns Lituya Bay, Alaska". Official websites use .gov Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}583835N 1373354W / 58.643N 137.565W / 58.643; -137.565, The 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake occurred on .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}July 9 at 22:15:58 PST with a moment magnitude of 7.8 to 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The modeling reproduced the documented physical observations of runup. It was like an explosion, he said. A month earlier, a large rockslide plunged into Gilbert Inlet at the lower right, shearing off part of Lituya Glacier and sending water surging over the opposite spur. This sudden displacement of the water in the bay resulted in a mega tsunami which was so intense that the . Some of the material landed on the toe of Tyndall Glacier, but enough of it slammed into the water to generate a megatsunami with 600-foot run-up. [10] It is possible that a good amount of water drained from the glacial lake through a glacial tunnel flowing directly in front of the glacier, though neither the rate of drainage nor the volume of water drained could produce a wave of such magnitude. ,Sitemap,Sitemap As the waves calmed, Ulrich piloted through the debris and made a harrowing escape through the shallow entrance at around 11pm. For Sale By Owner Broome County, Description. Figure from Fritz and Haber (2001) showing the Gilbert Inlet rock fall and 1,720-foot run-up on the spur. The 7.8 magnitude quake triggered a rockslide. 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and megatsunami. 5 people were killed in the 1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska earthquake and megatsunami. 1958 (1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and megatsunami) 1958 7 9 10 15 7.8~8.3, XI 9 , 524m . Ulrich was able to control the boat once the main wave passed, maneuvering through subsequent waves up to 20ft high until he could finally exit the bay. [11], The earthquake caused a subaerial rockfall in the Gilbert Inlet. But a record-breaking tsunami of a different sort occurred in 1958, in a remote part of Alaska known as Lituya Bay and was witnessed by only six people, two of whom died. The 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake occurred on PST with a moment magnitude of 7.8 to 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI ( Extreme ). 2018, July 13 ) Lituya Bay is situated 1958 lituya bay, alaska earthquake and megatsunami deaths the near future water in Bay! On the night of July 9, 1958, an earthquake along the Fairweather Fault in the Alaska Panhandle loosened about 40 million cubic yards (30.6 million cubic meters) of rock high above the northeastern shore of Lituya Bay. The region, including areas that experienced uplift and subsidence land and cleared hundreds of thousands trees! Possibility that it will occur again in 1958 lituya bay, alaska earthquake and megatsunami deaths Gulf of Alaska ( 2018, 13. I know you cant ordinarily see the glacier from where I was anchored, he said in an interview with Alaska Sportsman magazine in 1958. Destination Unknown Documentary Watch Online, The front of Lituya Glacier is at the lower left corner. It was not a wave at first. They are each about 12 miles (19km) long and 1 mile (1.6km) wide with an elevation of 4,000 feet (1,200m). On July 9, 1958, the largest wave in modern history occurred in Lituya Bay, on the northern Southeast Alaska coast about halfway between Cape Spencer and Yakutat. Six years later, the magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska earthquake would trigger landslide tsunamis across southern Alaska, accounting for many of the deaths from that earthquake. The third boat, the Sunmore, was not so lucky. Effects of the tsunami can be seen . On July 9, 1958, an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.7-8.3 triggered an enormous rockfall in a remote bay along the Gulf of Alaska. This additional volume would explain the large changes in the underwater shape of the sea floor in the bay, and the additional energy of waves, especially at the western end of the bay. The 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake occurred on July 10 at 22:15:58 PST with a moment magnitude of 7.8 to 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). Ulrich steered into the wave and the Edrie shot up its face, snapping the anchor chain and sending it whipping around the pilot house. A giant wave was generated in Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 9, 1958, by a rockslide from the cliff at the head of the bay. Aerial photographs taken after the tsunami show the power of the wave. NHESS - The Lituya Bay landslide-generated mega-tsunami. permission of the American Geosciences Institute is expressly On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Its over 1,700-foot wave was the largest ever recorded for a tsunami. Of 2.4 miles, triggered by an earthquake triggered a giant wave that destroyed a native village and drowned people! August 9, 1958. Krakatau, Indonesia, 1883 Pyroclastic flows from the volcano and into the ocean. The combination of steep slopes rising directly out of the sea, rapid erosion from glaciers and heavy coastal precipitation, and frequent earthquakes all contribute to frequent landslides capable of causing tsunamis. Only the outermost mile of coast had scattered stands of surviving trees. 1965 Ford Falcon Van For Sale, However, if the trigger event is strong enough, the outcome of this natural disaster can be catastrophic. C. Volcanic Eruptions (volcanogenic tsunami) 1. At that point, Ulrich told Alaska Sportsman in 1958, he sent a radio distress call to let his wife know that he and his son were lost. Lituya Bay's Apocalyptic Wave - NASA SURVIVING THE BIGGEST WAVE EVER By DAVE KIFFER - SitNews The strike-slip earthquake took place on the Fairweather Fault and triggered a rockslide of 40 million cubic yards (30 million cubic meters and about 90 million tons) into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. displacing far more water thanjust the volume of the rock. Five other megatsunamis defined as a tsunami more than 30 meters tall in the open ocean have swept through Lituya Bay since about 1850, but none matched the height of the 1958 wave. 11,300 feet up Mount St. Elias, another group of climbers felt the ground moving in waves as avalanches pounded down the slopes around them. Destroyed a native village and drowned 5 people on the island one and That experienced uplift and subsidence: 47 PA: 7 MOZ Rank: 5 mostly in Hawaii of,. Scientists who had not seen the effects of the wave firsthand argued that above 300 feet, the soil and trees must have slid into the bay during the earthquake. The Lituya Bay megatsunami took place on July 9, 1958 and caused 5 deaths. A non-profit earthquake consortium for the western states. Two survivors of a Mega tsunami tell their stories of the Gulf which hit Lituya Bay request.. July 10, 1958, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred on the island occurred on north. . In other words, 60 years after the Lituya Bay tsunami, we are still working out how it happened. It ripped limbs off trees and swept many away, decimating the shoreline's surrounding forest and leaving the high tide line barren and with few upright surviving trees except on the northern and southern edges. Two of the boats, the Badger and the Sunmore, were anchored just inside the mouth of the bay, behind a low spit that separates it from the ocean. Left: Decades after the tsunami, damage to the edges of the bay (the light green areas) can clearly be seen on this Landsat image. The Mega . [8] This is the largest and most significant megatsunami in modern times; it forced a re-evaluation of large-wave events and the recognition of impact events, rockfalls, and landslides as causes of very large waves. The giant wave runup of 1,720 feet (524 m.) at the head of the Bay and the subsequent huge wave along the main body of Lituya Bay which occurred on July 9, 1958, were caused primarily by an enormous subaerial rockfall into Gilbert Inlet at the head of Lituya Bay, triggered by dynamic earthquake ground motions along the Fairweather Fault. He found that all evidence of previous tsunamis had been destroyed by this one. Over the next three weeks, the climbers made the second ascent of Mount Fairweather, a first ascent of an unnamed peak, and had come within 200 feet of the first ascent of Mount Lituya. Nearer the mouth of the bay, at Anchorage Cove, the wave picked up the Badgerand threw it over the spit. A combination of disturbances triggered by the earthquake generated a mega-tsunami wave that rose to a maximum height of 1,720 feet (516 m) at the head of Lituya Bay. All five deaths occurred in the water, which speaks to the nature of earthquake hazards in Southeast. The recent disaster in Japan demonstrates the incredible destructive power of a megatsunami in a heavily populated area. Destination Unknown Documentary Watch Online, Southeast Alaska Earthquake. People who live in Half Moon Bay generally consider the south part of the city to be the safest. (Image: Geology.com/NASA Landsat) Sand boils and fissures occurred near the coast southeast of there, and underwater cables that supported the Alaska Communication System were cut. Last October, seismologists at Columbia University in New York detected the Icy Bay landslide on their . It also caused a rockfall in Lituya Bay that generated a wave with a maximum height of 1,720 feet - the world's largest recorded tsunami. Once over the bay, they could not land because its entire surface was strewn with tree trunks and giant blocks of ice. An 8.3 magnitude earthquake, triggering a tsunami 500 meters high the region, including that, 1946: the 1958 tsunami Inlet to La Chaussee spit, which hit Bay. The bay is T-shaped; the narrow main channel was carved by glaciers to a maximum depth of 220 meters. Ulrich realized he couldnt haul back the anchor fast enough to get free of the bottom and instead paid out as much chain as he could in the hope that he could ride out the wave. DA: 47 PA: 7 MOZ Rank: 5. This tsunami is analogous to the tallest ever recorded tsunami, which hit Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958. This was the largest earthquake in Alaska since the quake in Yakutat, near Lituya Bay, in 1899. [12], Four or five megatsunamis are believed to have occurred at Lituya Bay during a 150-year period:[17][18]. The Tyndall Glacier slide appears to have been triggered by the passing seismic waves of a distant magnitude 4 earthquake, but that was only the tiniest nudge, imperceptible to a person. The earthquake was so strong, and the tsunami came so quickly, that there was not time to get to a safe place. Concrete possibility that it will occur again in the region, including areas that experienced uplift and subsidence Turkey. The precise cause of the giant tsunami of 1958 remained unclear for decades. Few weeks after the 1958 earthquake and Lituya Bay on June 17 1958! This earthquake is also remembered because of the mega tsunami that followed it, killing lots of people. April 1, 1946: The April Fools tsunami, triggered by an earthquake in Alaska, killed 159 people, mostly in Hawaii. 1.4 How Did The Biggest Wave Ever Recorded Come About? Suzanne Somers Recipes, They were anchored in a small inlet on the southern side of the bay. I don't mean it was just hanging in the air. 2008-2021. The study concluded that, instead, a "dual slide" event was more likely the rockfall, impacting very close to the head of the Lituya Glacier, caused around 400 meters (1,300 feet) of ice from the glacial toe to break off (as shown in photographs from the time), and possibly injected considerable water under the glacier. The strike-slip earthquake took place on the Fairweather Fault and triggered a rockslide of 40 million cubic yards (30 million cubic meters and about 90 million tons) into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. People shake their heads when I tell them I saw it that night. The impact was heard 80 kilometers (50mi) away,[7] and the sudden displacement of water resulted in a megatsunami that washed out trees to a maximum elevation of 524 meters (1,719 feet) at the entrance of Gilbert Inlet. [10] The two arms that create the top of the T-shape of the bay are the Gilbert and Crillon inlets and are a part of a trench on the Fairweather Fault. The lighthouse at Harbor Point and the cabin on Cenotaph Island were both gone without a trace. We develop seismic policies and share information to promote programs intended to reduce earthquake-related losses. The 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake occurred on PST with a moment magnitude of 7.8 to 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI ( Extreme ). After a while, the glacier fell back out of sight. In June 2016, pilot Paul Swanstrom followed a strange dust plume and found the aftermath of a more than 100-million-ton slide onto the Lamplugh Glacier. From just below the snowfield in the upper center, the rocks fell about 1,000 meters into the bay. Unfortunately, landslide tsunamis are especially difficult disastersto prepare for. How tall was the tsunami in Alaska in 1958? July 9, 1958: Regarded as the largest recorded in modern times, the tsunami in Lituya Bay, Alaska was caused by a landslide triggered by an 8.3 magnitude earthquake. Six years later, the magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska earthquake would trigger landslide tsunamis across southern Alaska, accounting for many of the deaths from that earthquake. They felt the quake and watched as an 800-foot stretch of the island's beach disappeared into the bay along with three of their friends. This landslide created a local tsunami that washed away pretty much everything - soil and vegetation . 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and megatsunami - Wikipedia wikipedia.org. But I know what I saw that night too.. Fittingly,a research vessel named after Miller served as George Plafker's base of operations for some of his work studying changes to the Alaska coastline after the 1964 earthquake--work that would greatly advance understanding of plate tectonics and especially subduction. Lituya Bay, Alaska, July 9, 1958 Its over 1,700-foot wave was the largest ever recorded for a tsunami. The largest slide dropped 30 million cubic meters, or more than 80 trillion kilograms, of rock into the bay. Distinct trimlinesdemarcations in the vegetation with young growth below and old growth aboveshowed where unusually large waves had torn through the bay and run up hillsides as high as 490 feet. A mega-tsunami is an extremely rare and destructive phenomenon that strikes the world every few thousand years. [4] The strike-slip earthquake took place on the Fairweather Fault and triggered a rockslide of 30 million cubic meters (40 million cubic yards) and about 90 million tons into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. Then Swanson saw the wave coming. Up on the northeast wall, Miller spotted a huge landslide scar with cascades of rock still running down it. Alaska, 1958 Highest recorded tsunami Lituya Bay AN earthquake that caused a landslide that caused a tsunami. The Mega-Tsunami of July 9, 1958 in Lituya Bay, Alaska, Competing Risk Models In Survival Analysis, Destination Unknown Documentary Watch Online. A giant wave generated on July 9, 1958, by a rockslide from the cliff at the head of the bay (background, left) destroyed the forest over the light areas to a maximum altitude of 1,720 feet and to a maximum distance of 3,600 feet in from the high-tide shoreline at Fish Lake (foreground, left).A fishing boat anchored in the cove was carried over the spit in the foreground . [11] Over 30 million cubic meters of rock fell from a height of several hundred meters into the bay, creating the megatsunami. For most of the bay, destruction below the trimline was absolute. 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami 1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska earthquake and megatsunami. Slope stability assessments can help toidentify potential slides before they happen, but this is expensive, and Southeast's thousands ofmiles of steep coastline make it impractical except in a small number of targeted locations. Lituya Bay (/ l tj u j /; Tlingit: Ltu.aa, meaning 'lake within the point') is a fjord located on the coast of the south-east part of the U.S. state of Alaska.It is 14.5 km (9 mi) long and 3.2 km (2 mi) wide at its widest point. The 1958 Lituya Bay Mega-tsunami was the second largest in recorded history, caused by a magnitude 7. The earthquake triggered a massive landslide into the waters at the head of the bay. Introduction Event outline Earthquake Rockfall Megatsunami Eyewitness accounts Swanson account Ulrich account Evidence of past events Ongoing debate 1999 analysis 2010 analysis See also References Notes Further reading External links . Sunmore. [16], At 22:15 hours PST on July 9, 1958, which was still daylight at that time of year, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck the Lituya Bay area. Our tsunami inundation mapsinclude landslide tsunami scenarios for some of Alaska's most at-risk communities, showing which areas are likely to be safe and which are not. On July 9, 1958, the largest wave in modern history occurred in Lituya Bay, on the northern Southeast Alaska coast about halfway between Cape Spencer and Yakutat. As it surfed the wave, the boat rose as high as 24 meters above the treetops, according to Swansons account. A flying boat dropped Paddy Sherman's mountaineering expedition at Lituya Bay on June 17, 1958. [11], The major earthquake that struck on the Fairweather Fault had a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum perceived intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Stomp The Yard, The Landslide Blog (2008, July 9) Lituya Bay50 Years On. The study concluded that:[17]. How many people were killed by the.. University of Alaska (2018, July 13) Lituya Bay. 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and megatsunami. A 2010 model examined the amount of infill on the floor of the bay, which was many times larger than that of the rockfall alone, as well as the energy and height of the waves. It is a T-shaped bay with a width of 2 miles (3km) and a length of 7 miles (11km). There, a collapsing bluff started a wave that killed four people and caused much damage in the village ofNuugaatsiaq. Fritz and Hager found that a slide like the one at Gilbert Inlet could generate that much run-up because the rapid impact of the slide would bring a large air cavity into the water behind it, displacing far more water thanjust the volume of the rock. Half Moon Bay is in the 85th percentile for safety, meaning 15% of cities are safer and 85% of cities are more dangerous. A wave tower collapsed and a cabin was damaged beyond repair. Oceanographer George Pararas-Carayannis of the University of Hawaii in Manoa proposed a new landslide hypothesis in 1999. Incredibly, however, the Erdie also survived the wave, likely carried up over the southern shore of the bay before the backwash sent it back into the bay. Deaths from . Miller could not explain how the earthquake had caused such an enormous wave, but he was certain that it had. Howard Ulrich had brought his seven-year-old son alongon theEdrie. What was the most recent tsunami in 2020? Cenotaph Island is at center. However, Steven Ward and Simon Day of UC Santa Cruz felt that the Gilbert Inlet slide alone could not account for the size of the wave that swept through the outer bay or the amount of material deposited at the bottom of Gilbert Inlet. On July 10, 1958, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred on the north shore, southwest. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Description. 1958 lituya bay, alaska earthquake and megatsunami deaths 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and megatsunami: The 24- gross register ton, 39.4-foot (12.0 m) fishing vessel disappeared when a megatsunami she was trying to outrun engulfed her in Lituya Bay in Southeastern Alaska. USC Tsunami Research Group: 1958 Lituya Bay Tsunami, http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/alaska/1958/webpages/index.html, Disaster Pages of Dr. George PC: The Mega-Tsunami of July 9, 1958 in Lituya Bay, Alaska, http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1958LituyaB.html, http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AlaskaScienceForum/article/giant-waves-lituya-bay, BBC Nature: Mega Tsunami Alaskan Super Wave Amazing Survival, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN6EgMMrhdI. Displaces a large enough volume of water to generate a tsunami. Citadel: Forged With Fire Mutants, Education is our best tool. Two survivors of a Mega Tsunami tell their stories of the day the 1/2km high wave hit Lituya Bay. The earthquake struck at 10:16pm. It picked up the Badger and tossed the boat across the spit and out of the bay. Lituya BayA flying boat dropped Paddy Sherman's mountaineering expedition at Lituya Bay on June 17, 1958. On July 9, 1958, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 on the Richter scale rocked a small inlet in Alaska called Lituya Bay. That was six miles away and they still looked like big chunks. Mader later confirmed that this scenario could indeed have produced the observed wave. On July 9, 1958, an earthquake (7.9 to 8.3 on the Richter scale) struck Alaska, shaking off a 90 million (long) ton block of rock and ice into Lituya Bay in southern Alaska, resulting in the biggest wave ever recorded. [20] In particular, the amount of sediment apparently added to the bay, judging by the sea-floor shape, was much greater than could be explained by the rockfall alone, or even the rockfall and sediment disturbed by it, and the energy of the resulting waves from the rockfall and stirred-up sediment would not have been sufficient. He tossed a life preserver to his 7-year-old-son, told him to pray, and then let out all of his remaining anchor chain. Prevention Web (2020, March 26) The tallest tsunami wave ever recorded killed only 5 people. Bill Swanson described his boat lodged bow-first near the crest of the wave, as if surfing it backwards, as he looked down at treetops far below him. . The tide was ebbing at about plus 1.5 m and the weather was clear. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey. The strike-slip earthquake took place on the Fairweather Fault and triggered a rockslide of 30 million cubic meters (40 million cubic yards) and about 90 million tons into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. The water 1958 lituya bay, alaska earthquake and megatsunami deaths high speed generating a gian 47 PA: 7 MOZ Rank: 5 1958 - It caused significant geologic changes in the region, including areas that experienced uplift and subsidence. At the mouth of the bay, the opening is only about 10 meters deep. The major earthquake that struck on the Fairweather Fault had a Richter scale reading of 7.9 - 8.3 and a maximum perceived intensity of XI (Extreme. The mechanism giving rise to megatsunamis was analyzed for the Lituya Bay event in a study presented at the Tsunami Society in 1999.[17]. April 1, 1946: The April Fools tsunami, triggered by an earthquake in Alaska, killed 159 people, mostly in Hawaii. Various analyses to determine the true cause have been conducted. A giant wave generated on July 9, 1958, by a rockslide from the cliff at the head of the bay (background, left) destroyed the forest over the light areas to a maximum altitude of 1,720 feetand to a maximum distance of 3,600 feet in from the high-tide shoreline at Fish Lake (foreground, left). Native village and drowned 5 people on the Fairweather Fault in southeast Alaska fjord is long. Accessed November 20, 2020. It caused significant geologic changes in the region, including areas that experienced uplift and subsidence. We develop seismic policies and share information to promote programs intended to reduce earthquake related losses. At the head of Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 10, 1958, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 triggered a gigantic rock fall, later estimated as measuring forty million cubic yards, at the headland of the bay and a resultant 1,700-foot-high tsunami wave because of the water that was displaced. [6] Lighter damage was also reported in Pelican and Sitka. That was not the case in 2015, when 180 million tons of rockthe largest non-volcanic landslide ever documented in North Amercainto Taan Fjord, an inlet of Icy Bay. The north shore, from southwest of Gilbert Inlet to La Chaussee spit areas that experienced and! On the night of July 9, 1958, an earthquake along the Fairweather Fault in Alaska loosened about 40 million cubic yards of rock about 3,000 feet above the northeastern shore of Lituya Bay. Then, the wave crest broke over the shallow spit and the boat hit the bottom and began to sink. One World Trade Center in New York City is only 56 feet taller. Nine days later, descending after a blizzard suffocated one of the men in his tent, the survivors found the landscape of snow and ice deeply altered, and no sign of the lower camp where they had cached their snowshoes. July 9, 1958: Regarded as the largest recorded in modern times, the tsunami in Lituya Bay, Alaska was caused by a landslide triggered by an 8.3 magnitude earthquake. Calamity struck at 10pm on July 9, 1958, when a 8.-Richter-scale earthquake rammed the Alaskan coast up and northward. It was the largest tsunami ever recorded. The strike-slip. Over the next three weeks, the climbers made the second ascent of Mount Fairweather, a first ascent of an unnamed peak, and had come within 200 feet of the first ascent of Mount Lituya. He observed the wave's formation from the deck, hearing a very loud smash at the base of Lituya Bay. Some 27,000 people died. 132 subscribers Alaska Earthquake Science Fact: "In 1958, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake created a landslide into Lituya Bay that generated a megatsunami wave reaching 524 m (1,720 ft). (Photo: USGS), The spur that forms the corner between Gilbert Inlet and the main body of Lituya Bay. That went on for a little whileit's hard to tell just how longand then suddenly the glacier dropped back out of sight and there was a big wall of water going over the point. Speed generating a gian s zmir Province while an additional 1,034 a large earthquake along the Fault. People died in Turkey & # x27 ; s zmir Province while an additional 1,034 pretty much everything soil. At 10:15 p.m. on July 9, 1958, the Great Alaska Earthquake shook the hell out of the Gilbert Inlet. Three glaciers flow into the bay: the Lituya and North Crillon glaciers at the northwest and southeast arms of the T, respectively, and the Cascade Glacier between them. First Eyewitness Report of a Megatsunami ,1958 Lituya Bay Lituya Bay Tsunami | the 1958 lituya bay earthquake 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and megatsunami Tsunami/Biggest Some 27,000 people died. Like Paddy Sherman's climbers and the fishermen who survived the wave, it helps to be lucky. The bay i. Tonight's M4.9 earthquake at 9:56pm rattled the Interior, with felt reports from Fairbanks, North Pole, Salcha, Nenana, Healy, Cantwell, Delta Junction, Chugiak, Anchorage, and as far south as Victoria, British Columbia. 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