1958 Lituya Bay rockslide of 30 million cubic meters stripped forest to 524 meters up an Alaska slope; two died, Howard Ulrich and his son survived
The July 9, 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami in southeast Alaska stripped forest from a mountainside 524 m (1 720 feet) above sea level after an earthquake-triggered rockslide crashed into Gilbert Inlet. The extraordinary height marked the water’s run-up on a slope, not a wave of that height traveling through the bay; two people died, while Howard Ulrich and his 7-year-old son survived aboard a fishing boat lifted by the wave.
