October 1967 Tsunami: Grewingk, AK, United States
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Grewingk, AK, United States in October 1967. The water rose as high as 60 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
- October 1967
- Source
- Grewingk, AK, United States
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 60 m (196.9 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 59.621° N, 151.106° 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 debris slide in the southern Kenai Mountains, Alaska occurred during October 1967, producing a major flood wave more than 60 m high across the forefield of the Grewingk Glacier. The occurrence of water-transported ice blocks and forest debris, in addition to evidence of water scouring, suggests that flood waters affected the entire outwash plain, an area 2 km wide and extending 6 km to Kachemak Bay. The slide was reported to have been audible as far as 15 km to the west at Homer; however, records of the exact date and time of the event have not been located.
Photographs taken of the Grewingk forefield by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in May of 1964 after the Alaskan earthquake serve as a baseline with which later photography is compared. The debris slide scar and glacial forefield were photographed from the air by the U.S. Geological Survey on 16 October 1967, perhaps within a few weeks after the flood (A. Post, pers. commun., 1967). (reference #11765)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grewingk, AK, AK | United States | 2 | 60 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey |
More
Every tsunami in 1967The 1900sTsunamis 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 5644.