September 10, 1899 Tsunami: Yakutat Bay, AK, United States
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake and a landslide began at Yakutat Bay, AK, United States on September 10, 1899 at 21:41 UTC. The water rose as high as 60.96 meters. Its effects were recorded at 12 places.
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
- September 10, 1899, 21:41 UTC
- Source
- Yakutat Bay, AK, United States
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8.2, 25 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 60.96 m (200.0 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 12
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 5.9
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 60.000° N, 140.000° W
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
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.
This magnitude 8 earthquake was the largest in a series of earthquakes in the Yakutat Bay region during September 1899. This catastrophic event caused a maximum uplift of 47 feet on the western side of Disenchantment Bay, and was felt over an area estimated at least 216,300 square miles on land. A number of separate tsunamis were triggered by both tectonic uplift in Yakutat Bay and submarine and subaerial landslides from Valdez to Lituya Bay. Glacier regimen alteration also occurred in the area.
The following is from reference #415:
The tectonic movements and, to some extent, the collapse of large masses of ice and rocks into the water, were the cause of the appearance of a tsunami and seiches...The tongue of the Hubbard glacier broke off on a stretch of 9 km (5 miles) and slipped 1 km (half a mile) into the bay. Water poured out of the small lake and rushed downwards.
At Yakutat, according to eyewitnesses, the water became very agitated after the earthquake, and at least until nightfall the level rose and fell 2 1/2-3 m (8-10 feet) every 8-10 minutes.
According to one account, as soon as the earthquake had ended, flood tides rolled in from the sea. There were at least three large waves. The water level rose from the ebb tide mark, which occurred at the time of the earthquake, to 0.3 m (1 foot) above the high tide mark, that is, it rose 4 1/2 m (15 feet). Eddies formed in the bay, in which trees, driftwood and all kinds of rubbish circled so rapidly that it was difficult to follow individual objects. The water foamed up and was covered with whitecaps on the whole expanse. Reaching the chute of the sawmill, the whirlpool tore it off and carried it away in an instant.
According to another eyewitness, after the earthquake the water in the bay began to retreat stormily and passed the line of the lowest low tides. Soon afterwards, the water returned in a strong current and covered the shore over a considerable stretch. Everything around the Indian huts was flooded and washed away, and the huts themselves were very nearly washed away.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kwik River Delta, AK, AK | United States | 22 | 4.6 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Disenchantment Bay, AK, AK | United States | 23 | 12 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Logan Coast, AK, AK | United States | 31 | 12.19 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Yakutat Bay, West Shore, AK, AK | United States | 31 | 9 | 500 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||
| Russel Fjord, AK, AK | United States | 34 | 9.1 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Yakutat, AK, AK | United States | 48 | 4.6 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Yakutat, AK, AK | United States | 59 | 3 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Lituya Bay, AK, AK | United States | 205 | 60.96 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Glacier Bay, AK, AK | United States | 233 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Katalla, Controller Bay, AK, AK | United States | 252 | 1.22 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Lynn Canal, AK, AK | United States | 304 | 0.6 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Valdez, AK, AK | United States | 369 | 2.1 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1899The 1800sTsunamis of United StatesThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts 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 1260.