Miller, United States Geological Survey. A total of five people were killed in the event: three people died on Khantaak Island at the mouth of Yakutat Bay when the beach they were standing on subsided 100 feet below sea level; the other two died when their boat was sunk by the tsunami at Lituya Bay. They felt the quake and watched as an 800-foot stretch of the island's beach disappeared into the bay along with, To Miller, the destruction he saw was clearly the work of a giant wave, but its height seemed unbelievable.
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. 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. Once over the bay, they could not land because its entire surface was strewn with tree trunks and giant blocks of ice. The biggest tsunami in present times struck at Lituya Bay, Alaska on July 9, 1958. On July 10, 1958, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred on the Fairweather Fault in southeast Alaska. 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. After a minute or so the wave reached Cenotaph Island, breaking as it came around the left side but smooth-faced on the right. 1958 had only 368 deaths. In 2016, an entire mountainside failed and ran out onto the Lamplugh Glacier. A non-profit earthquake consortium for the western states. They flew over rafts of logs fanning out in the open water as far as five miles from the mouth of the bay. 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. So far we have been lucky to have few human impacts from recent landslide tsunamis in Alaska, but a disaster in Greenland in 2017 should serve as a warning. Most of this total came from earthquakes in Iran and Ecuador Overall ... 5 people were killed in the 1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska earthquake and megatsunami. It is 14.5 km long and 3.2 km wide at its widest point. Two people fishing in the bay were killed, but another boat amazingly managed to ride the wave. During the earthquake, the southwest side of the inlets moved about 20 feet northwest relative to the opposite shore, on the other side of the fault. 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. UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual. Two other boats also were anchored in the bay that night; those four people managed to ride out the wave. That was not the case in 2015, when 180 million tons of rock—the largest non-volcanic landslide ever documented in North Amerca—into Taan Fjord, an inlet of Icy Bay. People living in coastal communities should understand how megatsunamis happen and what to do if they are near the water when they feel an earthquake or witness a large slide (hint: run uphill). The mountaineers’ pilot came early, on the evening of July 9, forcing a mad scramble to leave before nightfall. Over the next three weeks, the climbers made the, The mountaineers’ pilot came early, on the evening of July 9, forcing a mad scramble to leave before nightfall. Conferences, Workshops and Board Meetings, 2015 WSSPC Registration (Payment By Check), Join/Renew Affiliate Membership (Credit Card), Engineering, Construction and Building Codes Committee. Wiegel, built a 1:1000 scale model of Lituya Bay and found that he could more or less recreate Miller's observations given a large enough mass of rocks falling as a unit into Gilbert Inlet at high velocity. Unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent any of the five deaths. University of Alaska (2018, July 13) Lituya Bay. By 9pm they were in the air, leaving behind three fishing boats that had come into the steep-walled bay for the night. All five deaths occurred in the water, which speaks to the nature of earthquake hazards in Southeast. The Edrie, meanwhile, was caught in a mess of disordered, 20-foot chop filled with ice and logs. It’s also possible that big landslides are becoming more common as glaciers retreat, removing support from the lower slopes of steep valleys. The move that I just made looks like this: 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami → 1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska earthquake and megatsunami. A 1,720 foot tsunami towered over Lituya Bay, a quiet fjord in Alaska, after an earthquake rumbled 13 miles away. It caused significant geologic changes in the region, including areas that experienced uplift and subsidence. The tsunami was triggered by an 8.3 magnitude earthquake, triggering … © 2009-2021 Western States Seismic Policy Council. Accessed November 20, 2020. Howard Ulrich had brought his seven-year-old son along on the Edrie. 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. (Photo: USGS), South side of Lituya Bay, soon after the tsunami. Damage from the 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami can be seen in this oblique aerial photograph of Lituya Bay, Alaska as the lighter areas at the shore where trees have been stripped away. 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. Lituya Bay is a fjord located on the coast of the south-east part of the U.S. state of Alaska. Unfortunately, landslide tsunamis are especially difficult disasters to prepare for. The barge heaved, and Miller watched as rocks fell from high cliffs into the bay. The site of the mountaineers' camp was scoured down to bedrock. Incredibly, the altimeter read 1,800 feet—1,300 feet higher than the 1936 trimline. On July 10, 1958, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred on the Fairweather Fault in southeast Alaska. (Image: D.J. That was not the case in 2015, when 180 million tons of rock—the largest non-volcanic landslide ever documented in North Amerca—into Taan Fjord, an inlet of Icy Bay. 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. Hence, there was little effect on human settlements. As the waves calmed, Ulrich piloted through the debris and made a harrowing escape through the shallow entrance at around 11pm. The wave didn’t travel far, as it struck land almost immediately. Like Paddy Sherman's climbers and the fishermen who survived the wave, it helps to be lucky. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake had begun near Cross Sound and ruptured 125 miles of the Fairweather fault, from Palma Bay to Icy Bay. The earthquake struck at 10:16pm. This was so big that it is known scientifically as a megatsunami. The landslide was not caused by an earthquake, and residents had no warning before the wave arrived. Miller wrote that the hillsides were dripping with water while the streams that drained small lakes above the bay were running down in swollen torrents. In Yakutat, the earthquake damaged bridges and docks and knocked a water tower to the ground. Education is our best tool. Lituya Bay is a fjord located on the Fairweather Fault in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Alaska. From there it raced toward the mouth of the bay—and the fishing boats—with some side-to-side sloshing that accounted for variations in the height of the trimline along the length of the bay. Large earthquakes sometimes start the landslides that cause megatsunamis, as in Lituya Bay, but not always. The red arrow shows the location of the landslide, and the yellow arrow shows the location of the high point of the wave sweeping over the headland. All five deaths occurred in the water, which speaks to the nature of earthquake hazards in Southeast. 1936: Lituya Bay, Alaska. CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 354-C A timely account of the nature and possible causes of certain giant waves, with eyewitness reports of their destructive capacity UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFIC.E, WA:SHIN:GTON : 1960 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. Philip Fradkin (2001), Wildest Alaska, University of California. The Fairweather fault runs directly through Gilbert and Crillon inlets, which form the crosspiece at the top of Lituya Bay's distinctive "T" shape. Miller, USGS/Wikimedia Commons). Miller could not explain how the earthquake had caused such an enormous wave, but he was certain that it had. This is the site of the 1,720-foot run-up, the highest ever documented. But Miller had seen driftwood and rocks strewn across the slopes at the top of the trimline, and the trees that had not been washed into the bay all lay on the ground pointing westward, as the wave had traveled. The hat brim is 12 inches in diameter. The 1958 cataclysm was triggered by a … 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. A full-grown Alaskan brown bear on the rocky slope looked the size of a mite. He found that all evidence of previous tsunamis had been destroyed by this one. In some respects, it created a similar reaction to that which would have occurred if an asteroid had fallen into the water. (Image: Geology.com/NASA Landsat) This was followed by an explosion of water in Gilbert Inlet, which gave birth to a wave that Ulrich described as “the smallest part of the whole thing” even though it was at least 100 feet high. Make It Happen Memories. The hat brim is 12 inches in diameter. A landslide there in 1958, caused by a major earthquake, had pushed a gigantic wave over that mountain's shoulder and out the bay. 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. Unfortunately, the qualities that make Lituya Bay so prone to landslide tsunamis are found in bays and fjords throughout Southeast Alaska. This is a sampling of small clips of 8 mm film transferred to DVD. We develop seismic policies and share information to promote programs intended to reduce earthquake-related losses. 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. Obviously, megatsunamis will happen again, and possibly without warning. Distinct trimlines—demarcations in the vegetation with young growth below and old growth above—showed where unusually large waves had torn through the bay and run up hillsides as high as 490 feet. Alaska, Ecuador and Peru saw fairly high activity. 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. The undersea slide that, So far we have been lucky to have few human impacts from recent landslide tsunamis in Alaska, but a disaster in Greenland in 2017 should serve as a warning. The Lituya Bay incident only killed 5 people, as it happened at a rugged part of Alaska’s southern strip. Some of the material landed on the toe of Tyndall Glacier, but enough of it slammed into the water to, Large earthquakes sometimes start the landslides that cause megatsunamis, as in Lituya Bay, but not always. World's Biggest Tsunami: The largest recorded tsunami with a wave 1720 feet tall in Lituya Bay, Alaska. It’s also possible that big landslides are becoming more common as glaciers retreat, removing support from the lower slopes of steep valleys. The Landslide Blog (2008, July 9) Lituya Bay—50 Years On. The boat crashed down and foundered on the far side of the spit, but Swanson and his wife Vivian were able to escape the wreck in their skiff with just the clothes they were wearing and a chair for a paddle. Twenty-one of his men perished in the tidal current in the bay. There, a collapsing bluff started a wave that killed four people and caused much damage in the village of, . The Fairweather fault does not produce the largest earthquakes, but the danger from these earthquakes is increased by the combination of steep slopes, unconsolidated soils, narrow fjords, and a population that lives and works by the sea. Miller was not around to study these, as he had drowned on the Kiagna River with a young assistant in 1961. My ship seemed very small there beneath the steep walls of ice and stone. Hermann Fritz and Willi Hager (2001), "Lituya Bay Case: Rock Slide Impat and Wave Run-Up", Don J. Miller (1960), "Giant Waves at Lituya Bay, Alaska", Don Tocher (1960), "The Alaska Earthquake of July 10, 1958: Movement on the Fairweather Fault and Field Investigation of Southern Epicentral Region", Steven N. Ward and Simon Day (2010), "The 1958 Lituya Bay Landslide and Tsunami - A Tsunami Ball Approach", Lituya Bay (at center left) offers the only sheltered anchorage for a long stretch of Southeast coast. 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