Highest tsunami
Last updated: July 16, 2018 at 3:48 am
The Lituya Bay megatsunami, which reached a height of 524 m (1,719 ft) above sea level on July 9, 1958, was caused by an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. The earthquake triggered a rockslide of 30 million cubic metres (40 million cubic yards, and about 90 million tons) which fell several hundred metres into Lituya Bay, Alaska. The channeling effect of the narrow inlet created a wave that washed out trees up to 520 metres (1,710 ft) from sea level at the entrance of Gilbert Inlet.
Mader, Charles L.; Gittings, Michael L., MODELING THE 1958 LITUYA BAY MEGA-TSUNAMI, II, The International Journal of The Tsunami Society
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Jeffrey Gallant is the Editor-in-Chief and Records Keeper of the Diving Almanac. He is also a contributing editor of DIVER Magazine, and the scientific director of the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG). Jeffrey started diving in 1982.
