March 28, 1963 Tsunami: Graham Island, British Columbia, Canada

A tidal wave occurred on the north and east coasts of Graham I. at about 02:30 on Tuesday (LT), Mar 28, 1963. The wave coincided with an unusually high tide. In Prince Rupert a high tide of 7.5 m occurred at 03:18 (LT). This was 0.52 m above the predicted tide, and only 0.34 m below the all time recorded extreme high tide.At Wiah Point the wave, or waves, washed over a high water rock, and dislodged two big oil tanks which has been erected there about 30 cm above high water, and washed them onto the shore. The tidal wave that hit the remote west coast of the Queen Charlotte I., got 10.7 m, tore oil tanks from concrete bases and apparently took the life of a man. The tidal wave caused extensive damage at Weah Point near the village of Masset.

About 3.2 km north of Masset a number of logs were washed onto the road, which is there about 1.2 m above high water. At Tow Hill logs were moved that had been in the same position on the beach for a number of years. At the mouth of the Tlell River, where a tidal bore has been observed on occasion, noise as of a wave travelling up the river was heard during the night, and a small piece of arable land near the high water line was flooded and damaged.

No record of the tsunami wave is seen on the tide gauge records in Prince Rupert or in Tusu, on the west coast of the Queen Charlotte I. A check for a filed death certificate at the Dept. of Vital Statistics in Victoria reveals a man was indeed lost in the sea in the period March 28-30, 1963 but reported missing near Jedway, BC which is on the inside southern tip of Moresby I. just north of Cape St. James.

An interview with Mr. Edward Hartt of the Canadian Coast Guard at Seal Cove near Prince Rupert confirmed the early morning arrival of this approximately 5.5 m high wave (over the tide) at Langara Lighthouse where he was the lightkeeper at the time. The wave broke two large fuel tanks from their moorings at the lighthouse dock and deposited them ashore well above high water. Mr. Hartt felt the source of this large wave was probably from the southwest because of the areas where most the damage occurred around the lighthouse.

A disturbance was reported from Dixon Entrance region of the Queen Charlotte I. during the night of March 30-31. The wave heights reached from 3.7 to 5.5 m above high water and caused minor damage at Langara I., Wiah Point, and Port Simpson. The disturbance was not recorded by any tide gauge and was not reported from any other area. No correlation between this event and any seismic or atmospheric disturbance has been found.

The date reported by von Hake and Cloud [1965] is different to that reported in the Canadian newspapers but likely represents the same event. The report of minor damage at Port Simpson by VonHake and Cloud was not confirmed in the interviews of Port Simpson residents by the author. It is unfortunate that the lightkeepers records from other lighthouses nearer to Port Simpson during this period (March 1963) are no longer available to confirm any closer sightings of this unusual wave to Port Simpson. According to Mr. Ed. Hartt these records were destroyed when the coast Guard moved their offices from Prince Rupert to Seal Cove in 1972...

Stephenson [2003] resumes the information on this event as follows:

-If there was a tsunami, it was a local event generated by an underwater slump.

-This tsunami event was almost certainly smaller than any of the "reported" heights. From the report by Willie Rapatz it follows that the dislodged tanks were only about 0.3 m above the high water (HW) line, and the road which logs washed up onto was only about 1.2 m above the HW line.

-The reported 10 and 12 m waves were probably heights above chart datum, meaning that the maximum wave height was about 5.5 m.

(above from reference #4153)

1963, March 30/31. In British Columbia, at Wiah Point (Langara I.) and Port Simpson, the water rose. There was no earthquake; a doubtful tsunami (Reference #415).