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The remarkable story of the highest tsunami waves ever accurately measured relates the legend of the native Tlingit tribe inhabiting Lituya Bay, Alaska, telling of a monster who grabs and shakes the surface of the sea, and the European discovery of the bay in 1786 by the French explorer La Perouse with tragic consequences. In 1954, a brilliant geologist studying the bay interpreted strange lines in the forest as possibly the result of tsunami waves, but his innovative ideas were rebuffed by fellow scientists. Merely 4 years later in 1958, he would be proven correct when the “monster” struck again with waves reaching 1,740 ft (524 m) in the forest. The details of this incredible tsunami are described by survivors on boats anchored in the bay, whose firsthand accounts are truly amazing.

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

This chapter follows the course of the waves caused by the 1946 Aleutian earthquake, which ultimately resulted in the creation of the first official tsunami warning system, from their source in Alaska as they demolished a Coast Guard lighthouse, caused massive destruction and loss of life in Hawaii, and ultimately reached the shores of Antarctica. The chapter presents observations by mariners at sea off Alaska, Navy pilots flying over Hawaii, and a marine geologist in the Hawaiian Islands for the Bikini atomic bomb tests and firsthand accounts of amazing survival and tragic loss in Hawaii. In addition to the devastating tsunami, 1946 marked the year when scientists in Japan and the English-speaking world finally adopted the name “tsunami” for these events.

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