West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, NOAA/NWS

Past Tsunamis along the U.S. West Coast, British Columbia, and Alaska

Tsunamis listed are locally generated tsunamis with high validity or with a significant effect. Also, significant tsunamis recorded in the WC/ATWC AOR ( Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California) but generated elsewhere in the Pacific are listed. Maximum runup and fatalities refer to the WC/ATWC AOR. Maximum runup indicates the maximum vertical wave elevation along the shore or the maximum half-height of the wave recorded on a tide gage. For further information on Alaska, B.C., and U.S. west coast tsunamis, see the NGDC Tsunami Catalog.

Information in this table is taken predominantly from Tsunamis Affecting the West Coast of the United States 1806-1992 by Lander, et al., 1993, and from Tsunami Affecting Alaska 1737-1996 by Lander, 1996.

Tsunami Date (yyyy mm dd) Source Location Max. runup (m) Fatalities
1737 10 16 Kamchatka 12 0
1788 07 21 Kodiak Island 10 0
1788 08 06 Alaska Peninsula 30 Some
1812 12 21 Southern California 3.4 0
1854 00 00 Lituya Bay, Alaska 120 100 (?)
1868 08 13 Northern Chile 2.2 0
1872 08 23 Central Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.3 0
1873 11 23 Southern Oregon/Northern California 3 0
1874 05 00 Lituya Bay, Alaska 24 0
1877 05 10 Northern Chile 1.8 0
1878 11 22 Southern California ? 1
1883 10 06 Cook Inlet, Alaska 6 7 (?)
1896 06 15 Honshu, Japan 1.5 0
1899 09 04 Gulf of Alaska 3.1 0
1899 09 10 Gulf of Alaska 60 0
1900 08 11 Lituya Bay, Alaska ? 5
1905 07 04 Southern Alaska 35 0
1906 04 18 Northern California 0.1 0
1925 02 23 Valdez Inlet, Alaska ? 0
1927 11 04 Southern California 1.8 0
1929 03 07 Eastern Aleutian Is., Alaska <0.1 0
1930 08 31 Southern California 3.0 1
1936 10 27 Lituya Bay, Alaska 150 0
1938 11 10 Alaska Peninsula 0.2 0
1946 04 01 Eastern Aleutian Is., Alaska 35 6
1946 06 23 British Columbia, Canada 30 0
1949 04 13 Puget Sound, Washington 2.2 0
1949 08 22 British Columbia, Canada 0.3 0
1952 11 04 Kamchatka 1.5+ 0
1957 03 09 Central Aleutian Is., Alaska 22.8 0
1958 07 10 Southeastern Alaska 525 5
1960 05 22 South Central Chile 2.4 2
1964 03 28 Gulf of Alaska 67.1 122
1965 02 04 Western Aleutian Is., Alaska 10.7 0
1965 03 30 Western Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.1 0
1965 07 02 Eastern Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.1 0
1971 05 02 Central Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.1 0
1971 11 06 Central Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.1 0
1972 07 30 Southeastern, Alaska 0.1 0
1975 11 29 Hawaii 1.4 0
1979 02 28 Southern Alaska 0.1 0
1986 05 07 Central Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.9 0
1987 11 17 Gulf of Alaska 0.1 0
1987 11 30 Gulf of Alaska 0.5 0
1988 03 06 Gulf of Alaska 0.2 0
1989 10 18 Northern California 1.0 0
1991 02 21 Bering Sea 0.1 0
1992 04 25 Northern California 0.9 0
1994 09 01 Northern California 0.1 0
1994 11 04 Southeastern Alaska 7.6 1
1996 06 10A Central Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.5 0
1996 06 10B Central Aleutian Is., Alaska 0.2 0