October 27, 1936 Lituya Bay Tsunami - Narrative
Passage from Lander (1996):
"There were four people in Lituya Bay about two hours before dawn - James
Huscroft and B.V. Allen in a cabin Huscroft had built on the western side of
Cenotaph Island, and Nick Larsen and F.H. Fredrickson on a 38-foot trolling
boat, the Mine, anchored near the north shore, south of Fish Lake. The
tide at the time was rising and at about mean level. At 6:20 A.M. local time a
loud roar was heard coming from the mountains beyond the head of the bay. The
weather was clear but it was too dark to see anything. The men felt no shaking.
The roaring continued until 6:50 A.M. when a large wave was first seen in the
narrow part of the bay, just west of the two arms of the head of the bay. It
appeared as a steep wall of water extending from shore to shore and possibly 100
feet high. The men on the Mine raised anchor and started toward Cenotaph
Island. An estimated ten minutes later they were about 1300 feet northwest of
the cabin site and in water at least 70 feet deep when the wave struck. There
was no preliminary lowering or other disturbance of the water.
The first wave raised the Mine about fifty feet above normal water as it
was partially sheltered by the island. On the lee side of the island the wave
was about 100 feet. After the wave passed, the water fell below normal.
Huscroft's seining boat, anchored in 48-feet of water, touched bottom. The
first wave was followed at intervals of about two minutes by two more waves,
each higher than the former. Each time the water fell below normal. After the
third wave smaller waves continued for about half an hour. There was no
sloshing of the water in the bay. About 30 minutes after the wave, floating
logs and ice appeared around the boat.
The men in Huscroft's cabin were awakened about 7:00 A.M. by a roar like
"the drone of 100 airplanes at low altitude" to find the water already up to
their cabin. Mr. Allen observed the scene from a higher and safer part of the
island. He noted that the three waves were of increasing altitude and estimated
their speed to be 20 knots (23 miles per hour). In the several published
accounts the maximum height is given as 250 feet (Alaskan Daily Press,
November 5, 1936, p. 5) and 150 to 200 feet written in the log book of the
Osa Nolde as relayed to Miller (1960, p. 68) in a written communication
to him from Caroline Jensen. The latter values agree better with the
Fredrickson account."
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