In the past 150 years Lituya Bay has had three other … Miller, United States Geological Survey.The wave hit with such power that it swept completely over the spur of land that separates Gilbert Inlet from the main body of Lituya Bay.
This location is seven miles (11.3 kilometers) away from where the wave originated. One World Trade Center in New York City is only 56 feet taller. (Map from Miller, Great Waves in Lituya Bay, Alaska)The spur that forms the corner between Gilbert Inlet and the main body of Lituya Bay. Miller, United States Geological Survey.Wave damage on the south shore of Lituya Bay, from Harbor Point to La Chaussee Spit, southwest of Crillon Inlet. This tree is located about seven miles (11.3 kilometers) from where the wave originated. Lituya Bay is an ice-scoured tidal inlet with a maximum depth of 722 feet (220 m). All of these waves were significant in size, but shoreline evidence for all of them was removed by the 1958 wave. Map information from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.Wave damage areas along the shorelines of Lituya Bay, viewed from the south.
Millions of trees were uprooted and swept away by the wave. Miller was not around to study these, as he had drowned on the Kiagna River with a young assistant in 1961. Miller, United States Geological Survey.Prior to the July, 1958 tsunami, Don J. Miller of the United States Geological Survey had been studying evidence for the occurrence of large waves in Lituya Bay. Mr. Miller was in Alaska when the July 1958 wave occurred and flew to Lituya Bay the following day. Lituya BayA flying boat dropped Paddy Sherman’s mountaineering expedition at Lituya Bay on June 17, 1958. Like Paddy Sherman's climbers and the fishermen who survived the wave, it helps to be lucky.South side of Lituya Bay, soon after the tsunami. The areas of destroyed forest along the shorelines are clearly recognizable as the light areas rimming the bay. Photo by D.J. During the earthquake, the southwest side of the inlets moved about 20 feet northwest relative to the opposite shore, on the other side of the fault.Still, living with the danger of megatsunamis is part of the cost of working and playing in one of the world's most breathtaking landscapes. This mass of rock plunged from an altitude of approximately 3000 feet (914 meters) down into the waters of Gilbert Inlet (see map below). It was anchored near the mouth of the bay and was sunk by the big wave. Photo by D.J. The elevation of water in Lituya Bay is sea level.