West Coast of North America Tsunamis 1964
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tsunami, tsunami history, tsunami photos, tsunami pictures, tsunami videos, tusunami
Now
known as the Good Friday Tsunami, the west coast, especially in the
state of Alaska, was affected by a tsunami that was the most
devastating ever in the continent of North America. On March 28th
1964, the United States experienced its biggest earthquake in history
near College Fjord in Prince William Sound of the coast of Alaska that
measured 9.2 on the Richter scale. The earthquake lasted for three to
five minutes in most areas with jolting of the ocean floor creating
large tsunamis. Although the earthquake did cause some destruction,
the majority of death and property damage was caused by the resulting
tsunami. The small Alaskan coastal communities of Girdwood, Portage,
Vladez, and some native villages were absolutely decimated. There were
a total of 106 people killed in Alaska due to the tsunami waves which
reached heights of 11.5 meters (38 feet).
The tsunami traveled south along the west coast to impact the
Canadian province of British Columbia. The mainland coast and
Vancouver Island were affected where houses were seen being washed away
to sea. Considerable damage was also felt in Crescent City, California
where eleven people lost their lives. Even Hawaii, thousands of
kilometers away felt the impact of the tsunami.
