April 9, 1944 Tsunami: Columbia River Valley, WA, United States
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Columbia River Valley, WA, United States on April 9, 1944 at 02:30 UTC. The water rose as high as 9.14 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
The tsunami
- Date
- April 9, 1944, 02:30 UTC
- Source
- Columbia River Valley, WA, United States
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 9.14 m (30.0 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 48.570° N, 118.150° 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.
A four to five million cubic yard landslide occurred on the Main Terrace in the Reed Terrace area about 98 miles above the Grand Coulee Dam, Washington. The terrace was 210 feet above the lake level and 350 feet above the former Columbia RIver level. The terrace cliff had been submerged 40% by the impounding of the river. It generated a wave 30 feet high on the opposite shore 5,000 feet away across Roosevelt Lake. (Reference #237)
Location, lake mile 98.4 right bank, Main terrace. This landslide occurred April 8, 1944, at about 6:30 a.m., and its volume was estimated to be between 4 and 5 million cubic yards, the largest of the 1944 landslides […] Mr. H. E. Reed witnessed this earth failure from the yard of his ranch. It occurred in two units, as the shape of the profile suggests. The second unit followed the first by a matter of seconds, and waves reaching a maximum height of 30 feet were recorded on the opposite shore of the lake, 5,000 feet away.(reference #1695)
NOTE: approximate location
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F.D. Roosevelt Lake, WA, WA | United States | 2 | 9.14 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1944The 1900sTsunamis of United StatesThis 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 1754.