1853 Tsunami: Lituya Bay, AK, United States

1853-1854. Validity 4 with some uncertainty on the date. A massive wave in Lituya Bay cleared trees to a height of 120 meters. The occurrence of the wave is evidenced by a well-marked zone in the forest on either shore of the bay, the demarcation line of which separates two tree populations of differing ages. Growth ring dating of the younger, lower trees indicated that a wave had cleared the forest between the growing season of August 1853 and May 1854. It is believed that the wave was generated by a rockslide on the south shore of the bay. The report of many drowned at Dry Bay between 1850 and 1860 is probably associated with this tsunami. Native histories variously suggest from 8-10 war canoes with 8 men each were lost, to the loss of an entire village, as possible results of this event. It is tempting to combine these events with the poorly dated account of the 1845 glacier collapse in Disenchantment Bay and the 1847 Sitka earthquake. However, the tree-ring date for the Lituya Bay seems to fix that event to near the 1853-1854 period but an under-counting is possible. Therefore, these are considered as separate events [1845-1847 and 1853-1854]; the Lituya Bay event does not seem to have been associated with an earthquake. This is the earliest of five landslide tsunamis reported for Lituya Bay by Miller (1960). (Ref #239)

The following is from reference #415:

1853/1854. During studies in Lituya Bay, mainly in 1948 and in 1952-1953, clear traces of the past effects of a strong wave were found. Namely, along the northern and in places along the southern shore of the Bay, an age-old forest grew, beginning only at a certain well-marked boundary. Below this boundary and as far as the zone of flood tides, there grew only a young forest. Judging by the number of rings on trunk sections, it was established that the wave arose between the middle of August 1853 and the beginning of May 1854.

The maximal known height of this boundary is 120 m (395 feet) above mean sea level; the maximal distance from the water line is 750 m (2500 feet); the known area of the zone of destruction of forest is 3 1/2 km squared. Judging from the remaining traces of erosion, the destructive force of the wave of 1853/1854 was little less than that of the waves of 1958.

According to Indian legend, in the 60's of the XIX century, at the exit from Lituya Bay, eight canoes with people were lost in a sudden flood. The cause of the waves is unknown.