

World's Tallest Tsunami – Lituya Bay, Alaska, 1958 - vinnyglennon
http://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml

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sandworm
This was discussed in my geology course at UBC. The prof was adamant that this
was not a "true" tsunami, that it was a product of specific geology/geometry
rather than a true sea-born wave triggered by geological-scale events. I guess
he was correct in that this thing didn't have the total energy of a typical
tsunami, but it was certainly enormous for those in the local area.

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davidw
This is a similar event in terms of a landslide sloshing into a body of water.
Smaller in scale, but far more lives were lost.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam)

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infinotize
There are a few hypothetical landslide/displacement-driven tsunami events that
are interesting to read about:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami#Potential_future_me...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami#Potential_future_megatsunamis)

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cshimmin
I was fascinated by this article, so I was trying to explain it to my
colleagues. I was enthusiastically sketching the bay and glaciers on the
chalkboard when I suddenly became very embarrassed, as I realized I was
basically drawing a big uterus on the board :S

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themodelplumber
From the BBC video: "They rode the wave as it swept them above the trees and
washed them back into the bay."

Wow! I think I would be ready to move to the desert after experiencing
something like that.

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junto
There are a fair few potential 'megatsunamis' waiting out there. The Canary
Islands one could be particularly devastating since theoretically half the
island on La Palma could slide into the sea.

[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami)

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sandworm
Is it safe to assume that some meteor impact in the distant past must have had
a taller wave, something measured in kilometres?

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NamTaf
Not sure. Part of what makes this one so high is that the displaced water can
only go in one direction. It'd be a pretty coincedental impact for a meteor to
hit somewhere where that can happen.

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dmd
So if this sort of thing has happened within living memory, it's probably
fairly common.

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jkot
Thera eruption was probably taller when it hit Crete.

