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Lituya Bay
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lituya Bay is a fjord located at in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is 14.5 km (9 mi) long and 3.2 km (2 mi) wide at its widest point. The bay was discovered in 1786 by Jean-François de La Pérouse, who named it Port des Français. 21 of his men perished in the tidal current in the bay.
The smaller Cascade and Crillon glaciers and the larger Lituya Glacier all spill into Lituya Bay. The bay is famous for its extremely high tides. The entrance of the bay is very narrow, and the tides going into and out of the bay through the entrance also cause very treacherous currents.
The same topography that leads to the heavy tidal currents also created the highest tsunami wave ever recorded anywhere in the world. An earthquake and landslide in Crillon Inlet at the head of the bay on July 10, 1958 generated a monstrous megatsunami 524 metres (1,719 ft) high, which stripped trees and soil from the opposite headland and consumed the entire bay, destroying three fishing boats anchored there and killing two people. By the time the wave reached the open sea, however, it dissipated quickly. This incident was the first direct evidence and eyewitness report of the existence of megatsunamis[1].
Lituya Bay is a part of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.
- Guinness World Records Ltd. (2005). Guinness World Records 2006: 84.
- Mega-tsunami: Wave of Destruction. Horizon. BBC Two 12 October 2000