The U.S. Geological Survey says it has pinpointed the cause of tsunami waves that destroyed an Alaska village following the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake
Associated Press
Feb. 1, 2016, at 3:43 p.m.
By DAN JOLING, Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal scientists say they've pinpointed the cause of tsunami waves that destroyed an Alaska village following the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, the second-largest ever recorded, at magnitude 9.2.
The U.S. Geological Survey says undersea landslides in water up to 1,150 feet deep triggered a tsunami that killed 23 people in the Prince William Sound village of Chenega (chen-EE'-gah).
That's far deeper than the underwater slides that sent deadly tsunami waves into the towns of Valdez (val-DEEZ), Seward and Whittier.
Undersea mapping shortly after the quake reached only about 330 feet, and the cause of the Chenega tsunami previously was a mystery. USGS researchers used multi-beam sonar and other tools to find evidence of deeper slide.
The deadly waves reached Chenega four minutes after the earthquake.
http://www.usnews.com/news/science/articles/2016-02-01/researchers-find-source-of-1964-devastating-alaska-tsunami?int=aa3609
