Researchers find source of 1964 devastating Alaska tsunami

Published February 01, 2016

Federal scientists say they've pinpointed the cause of tsunami waves that destroyed an Alaska village following the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, the second-largest ever recorded, at magnitude 9.2.

The U.S. Geological Survey says undersea landslides in water up to 1,150 feet deep triggered a tsunami that killed 23 people in the Prince William Sound village of Chenega (chen-EE'-gah).

That's far deeper than the underwater slides that sent deadly tsunami waves into the towns of Valdez (val-DEEZ), Seward and Whittier.

Undersea mapping shortly after the quake reached only about 330 feet, and the cause of the Chenega tsunami previously was a mystery. USGS researchers used multi-beam sonar and other tools to find evidence of deeper slide.

The deadly waves reached Chenega four minutes after the earthquake.

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