July 21, 1788 Kodiak Island Tsunami - Three Saints Bay Narrative
Passage from Soloviev (1990) (a letter from V. Merkuliev to G.I. Shelikhov):
"... in 1788 on July 11th, here on Kodiak Island we had a big earthquake and
some thought that the earth would collapse. The earthquake was so strong that
one could not stand on his feet. We did not have time to recover from this
earthquake when a flood came from the sea. We had a deluge in our harbor, and
at that time every man was looking for a safe place to save his life. The flood
did a lot of damage. First, my barabora (half sunken hut) was flooded and the
merchandise was carried away as were other small structures and the palisade.
In your garden all of the soil and vegetation were washed entirely away and at
this place water brought in gravel and dug holes in the ground. The raise of
the level of water was almost up to the windows in your room. However, the
flood lasted only for a very short time, there were two large waves and the
rest of them were minor. After this the earth was shaking every day for a month
or longer. It was shaking two or three times a day and even more often. Since
the time of the earthquake, our place near the harbor subsided."
Passage from Lander (1996) (quoting Davydov (1812)):
"...On Kad'iak the earthquake was terrifying. After the first tremors the sea
suddenly withdrew from the shore; then the Koniags and Russians took to the
hills. Several moments later the water came back in a huge mountainous rush
and cracked onto shore. This incoming tidal wave broke the ships' hawsers
(ropes used for mooring the ships) and carried them up onto one of the villagers
huts. Some yurtas (dwellings) were washed away all together.
On the same day there were two such tidal waves. For 17 days there was a series
of violent tremors that caused landslides from the mountains and the shores.
Many capes fell away and left many pillars of rock standing."
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