March 20, 1855 Tsunami: N. California, United States

1855 March 19, 04:30 p.m. Validity 1. 1855, March 19, 04:30 P.M. The Humboldt Times, Union, California for March 24, 1855, p. 2, reports, "on Monday [March 19thl at 4:30

P.M., the good people of this county got a shaking "as was a shaking" from a young earthquake, whether gotten up exclusively for our benefit or not, we, on our part, decline an encore. It extended upwards of thirty miles but

was more severe in the vicinity of Bucksport, it having dried up the water in the branches and creeks for at least half an hour. At Angel's Ranch, twelve miles north of this [Arcata] it shook milk out of pans. Here, the water lying in

holes was considerably agitated, houses rattled and shook so much as to frighten occupants into the streets, some of whom have not yet recovered from the effects of it. On Tuesday, [20th] at 4:00 A.M., another shock was felt at Bucksport." Union, California is now Arcata and Bucksport is now a section in the southern part of Eureka. Angel's Ranch, a rural mountain ranch, is twelve miles northeast of Arcata above Blue Lake (McConnick, personal communication).

Soloviev and Go (1975) quoting Perrey (1856) and Holden (1898) state "...the discharge of water into the rivers were changed. The water in Humboldt Bay was agitated for an hour." Perrey (1856) states, "The water was agitated for

an hour," without specifically mentioning the bay. This seems to be a combination of the Bucksport and Angel Ranch reports in the Humboldt Times. The editor of the Humboldt

Times was located on the bay at Arcata, and he had adequate time to gather reports from a 30 mile area. Had there been agitation of the bay for an hour it is almost certain not to have been missed or ignored by him. There appears to be no contemporary report of observed wave activity. This does not eliminate the chance that a wave was generated but only that no contemporary reports of wave action have been found. If, for example, the April 25, 1992, event's effects were superimposed on this event, the results would have been similar and no wave would have been reported. (See also April 25, 1992.) Validity 1. (reference #237)

1855, March 19th, 16:30 [local time]. 41 N 125 W, magnitude 6, probable validity. An earthquake in the vicinity of Humboldt Bay was felt 55 km (30 miles) from Eureka. It was strongest at Backsport. Milk splashed from a saucepan. The discharge of water in the rivers changed. The water in Humboldt Bay was agitated for an hour (Perrey, 1857; Holden 1898; Townley, Allen, 1939). (reference #415)