May 1874 Tsunami: Lituya Bay, AK, United States
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Lituya Bay, AK, United States in May 1874. The water rose as high as 24.38 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- May 1874
- Source
- Lituya Bay, AK, United States
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 24.38 m (80.0 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 58.640° N, 137.570° W
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Vegetation was destroyed over a distance of 4 miles or more along the north shore of Lituya Bay, reaching a maximum height of 80 feet and maximum width of 2,100 feet back from shore. A landslide was the likely cause of the event; no earthquake was reported at the time. The month and year of occurrence are estimates based on observational evidence. (Ref #239)
At approximately this time, a wave may have arisen in Lituya Bay. It washed away the forest on the northern shore, on a stretch of at least 7 1/2 km (4 miles), at a height of up to 25 m (80 feet) above the high tide line. The cause of the wave is unknown (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lituya Bay, AK, AK | United States | 0 | 24.38 | 640.1 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1874The 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 2607.