1845 Tsunami: SE. Alaska, AK, United States
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at SE. Alaska, AK, United States in 1845. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 100 people.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
The tsunami
- Date
- 1845
- Source
- SE. Alaska, AK, United States
- Cause
- Landslide
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
The toll
- Deaths
- 100
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1845-1847. Validity 3, but date is uncertain. The collapse of glaciers into Disenchantment
Bay has happened several times (1958, 1905, 1899) in conjunction with large earthquakes. As the date of occurrence of this event is only approximate (based on the "60 years" of the Indian legend [listed below]), it probably was associated with a large earthquake. However, neither of the Indian legends mention the occurrence of an
earthquake with the glacier collapse and the 1905 event that Tarr observed did not have an earthquake associated with it. In a letter to the Metropolitan of Moscow dated May 1, 1848, Khlebnikov states, "On 18 March of this year we
had a strong earthquake. With the first shock, which lasted for more that 10 seconds, all the wall clocks in town stopped and the stove chimneys on the large houses were damaged" (Liapunova and Fedorova, 1979, p. 200).
Validity 3, but the date is uncertain. (reference #239)
The Indians stated that this was the third time the glacier had fallen [since 1905]...The last fall, which is said to have occurred about sixty years ago [1845] is reported to have destroyed a hundred Indians who at the time of the fall were at the summer sealing camp a few miles south of Haenke Island. It is said that only one of the Indians in the camp was saved. (reference #2190)
1845. Yakutat Bay, there was the collapse of a glacier. It caused a wave. A hundred residents died (Reference #415).
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yakutat, AK, AK | United States | Eyewitness observation of water height | 100 |
More
Every tsunami in 1845The 1800sTsunamis of United StatesAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 740.