In 1899, an earthquake in Lituya Bay caused a tsunami that destroyed a village, killing 5 people. Nearly 40 years later in 1936, yet another tsunami swallowed the small bay again (via Earth Observatory). But, the mother of all tsunamis was still yet to come. On July 9, 1958, an earthquake rocked Alaska (via Alaska Earthquake Center). Measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, the earthquake struck at 10:16 pm. So intense was the quake, in fact, the inlet feeding into the bay moved 20 feet in the opposite direction of the shore. According to Earth Observatory, the earthquake caused a rockslide that forced over 90 million tons of rock into Lituya Bay. Mountain climber Howard Ulrich, who was with his son, witnessed the event. He described the ensuing 100+-foot wall of water: "It looked like just a big wall of water. You're looking at death, and this was exactly my first thought." (via Daily Astorian).
