On April 1, 1946 at 4:28 am (12:28 UTC), an 8.6 moment magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Unimak Island in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, generating a tsunami that caused the greatest damage and number of deaths in Hawaii’s history, leading to the creation of the United States’ first tsunami warning system. The entire area is called the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, where earthquakes are relatively common. Many coastal locations in the Pacific experienced significant hazards (indicated by the red dots) due to this tsunami. The earthquake caused a massive tsunami across the pacific with far reaching affects all the way out … Tsunami waves may be small in the open ocean, but wave heights can increase substantially as they approach the shore (indicated by the colored dots). The tsunami evacuation zones for Hawaii and Guam are available at http://tsunami.coast.noaa.gov. Aleutian Islands Earthquake An 8.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred near the Alaskan Aleutian Islands. These are initially a blue color like the undisturbed ocean to indicate normal sea level, but as the tsunami waves reach them they will change color to represent the height of the waves coming ashore, and often these values are higher than they were in the deeper waters offshore. December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean (Sumatra) The Sumatra Earthquake of December 26, 2004 | … The tsunami killed 167 people, most in Hawaii. Despite its compact territory, it has much to offer its guests: fascinating mountain … © 2009-2020 Western States Seismic Policy Council. The color scheme is based on PTWC’s warning criteria, with blue-to-green representing no hazard (less than 30 cm or ~1 ft.), yellow-to-orange indicating low hazard with a stay-off-the-beach recommendation (30 to 100 cm or ~1 to 3 ft.), light red-to-bright red indicating significant hazard requiring evacuation (1 to 3 m or ~3 to 10 ft.), and dark red indicating a severe hazard possibly requiring a second-tier evacuation (greater than 3 m or ~10 ft.). The rupture length of this event was approximately 1200 km, making it the longest observed aftershock zone of all the historic Aleutian arc events. Latest earthquakes, earthquake breaking news, earthquake forecasting and statistics. (B) Location of Driftwood Bay on Umnak Island, Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, and Stardust Bay on Sedanka Island. This facility would later be renamed the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and expand its mission to include the rest of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. ... Aleutian Islands, USA: GFZ: M 5.0: 55 km: Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, USA ... has a long dramatic history and a rich cultural heritage. The 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake occurred near the Aleutian Islands on April 1, 1946, and generated a Pacific-wide tsunami. On April 1, 1946, at 12:29 GMT, an earthquake occurred in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The April 1, 1946 Aleutian Islands 8.1 earthquake was followed by a Pacific-wide tsunami. Earthquakes in the Unimak Area occur in the tectonic plate subduction zone as shown in the map below. You can also view a YouTube version of this animation. It was five stories high, built of reinforced concrete, and stood 40 feet above the sea. Exact time and date of earthquake … Today, 70 years since the Unimak Island Earthquake, PTWC will issue tsunami warnings in minutes after a major earthquake occurs and will also forecast how large any resulting tsunami will be as it is still crossing the ocean. In March 1957 the Andreanofs were the site of the third largest earthquake in the 20th century, which set off a Pacific-wide tsunami. Wave heights reached an estimated 115 feet in Alaska, and averaged 30 feet in Hawaii, where the tsunami struck without warning nearly 5 hours afte… This happens when magma from below the earth crust moves upward and forces the sides island to expand, sliding acros the ocean's crust and thus causing an earthquake. Chile’s Easter Island also got nearly 9 m or 28 ft.while its Juan Fernandez Islands got nearly 3 m or 9 ft. high waves. Science On a Sphere® A seismological reassessment of the source of the 1946 Aleutian 'tsunami' earthquake. These absences include ice picks, snow goggles, and dog sled gear. The eastern Aleutian arc extends from the Alaska Peninsula in the east to the Fox Islands in the west. The children were on the beach gathering fish left in the wake of the previous two waves when the third, and largest, wave came in. Today, the original tsunami warning system has evolved into an international coordination effort between 26 international members, and provides early warnings to coastal communities of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Right:  The tsunami arrived in Hilo, Hawaii, nearly five hours after the earthquake, but without warning to its inhabitants. In Hawaii, the recipient of the distant source tsunami generated by the earthquake, there was extensive damage, particularly in the city of Hilo on the Big Island, which suffered approximately $300 million (adjusted to 2011 USD) in damages and lost most of its waterfront buildings. 5 others were killed in Alaska and 1 in California. For example, on April 1, 1946, the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake and tsunami, which had a magnitude of 8.6, caused 165 fatalities and substantial property destruction. It generated a tsunami around 35 feet high on a nearby island, but caused very little other damage to a state devastated a year earlier when the "Good Friday Earthquake" hit the region. The quake was located at a depth of 26 miles. All information you need to know about the Aleutian Islands. In North America the highest waves were in California at over 2 m or over 8 ft. and killed one person there and in South America it killed one more person in Peru. This animation shows these values through the simulated motion of the waves and as they travel through the world’s oceans one can also see the distance between successive wave crests (wavelength) as well as their height (half-amplitude) indicated by their color. Multiple destructive waves at heights ranging from 45-130 ft occurred. The map groups the earthquakes before and after the "Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964". On April 1, 1946, a 100-foot tsunami struck the area, completely destroying the lighthouse, and killing all five members of the lighthouse crew. The magnitude 8.1 earthquake caused 165 casualties. This region exhibits intense volcanic activity and has a history of megathrust earthquakes. This earthquake ruptured a 600-km segment of the Aleutian Islands. 1965 Aleutian Islands. I also witnessed many earthquakes during my two years on the island. Aftershocks of the 4 February 1965 Rat Island Earthquake FREE PDF | ScienceMag.org. Both earthquakes were felt in the Aleutian communities of Nikolski, Unalaska and Akutan, according to the Associated Press. South Of Aleutian Islands has had: (M1.5 or greater) 0 earthquakes in the past 24 hours 4 earthquakes in the past 365 days Toward the end of this simulated 48 hours of activity the wave animation will transition to the “energy map” of a mathematical surface representing the maximum rise in sea-level on the open ocean caused by the tsunami, a pattern that indicates that the kinetic energy of the tsunami was not distributed evenly across the oceans but instead forms a highly directional “beam” such that the tsunami was far more severe in the middle of the “beam” of energy than on its sides. 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