Historic Earthquakes

Unimak Island
1946 Apr 01 12:28:56.0 UTC
Magnitude 8.1

This major earthquake caused only minor damage to buildings on Unimak Island, but it generated a tsunami that devasted the lighthouse and swept away its five occupants. The height of the wave at the lighthouse was estimated at about 35 meters. Tsunami damage also occurred at Dutch Harbor and Ikatan Island in the Aleutian Islands, on the west coasts of North and South America, and in Hawaii. At Hilo, Hawaii, the tsunami took 159 lives and caused $26 million loss to property. The tsunami caused one death in California.

Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.

Links

• 1946 Aleutian Tsunami from the University of Washington
• 1946 Aleutian Tsunami